Cardfight! Vanguard: Cray's Heroes
by Tsukuyomi-chan
Summary: 5 Years after the VF circuit, the hand of fate brings together four unlikely people to one place. It seems harmless enough, a simple academy. But who ever said Void stopped its ambitions? New heroes emerge, old heroes fight back. New villians are coming. Dark Cray is getting stronger. Operation Cray Avatar, start. Welcome to Vanguard Academy.
1. Entry Day

**Me: Hello hello hello! This is the rewrite of the story Vanguard Academy, based on the forum created by littleblackwing! I own only the character Heiwami Soratsuki so far. You'll see the other characters later! **

**Astral: We do not own Cardfight! Vanguard. Bushiroad owns it.**

**Me: Unfortunately. This takes place 5 years after canon, enjoy!**

* * *

**Cardfight! Vanguard: Cray's Heroes**

_"This isn't working. This isn't working!" The black knight slammed his fist onto the table angrily._

_ "Blaster Dark! Stay calm!" Takuto Tatsunagi said, sitting near the head of the table where all of the representatives from the clans of Cray were sitting._

_ "We need to be able to stop them! It worked five years ago, it should work again!" Blaster Dark yelled._

_ "Using Psyqualia again would be too risky." CEO Amaterasu said calmly. "We have had our alternate to that for a long time, I say we use it."_

_ "If it doesn't work, we'll be overwhelmed." A blue-haired twenty year old man, Aichi Sendou, said. He was sitting between to Alfred and Ezel. "We need to try it."_

_ "It's getting more and more difficult. There will be many obstacles preventing it, of course." Misaki Tokura said. She sat next to Amaterasu and Twilight Hunter, Artemis._

_ "It will work if we try hard enough." Toshiki Kai said from his spot at the table. "It needs to be stopped no matter what. We're not sure what they're after but we need to stop them before it's too late."_

_ "So that means…" Ren Suzugamori looked at the dark-haired girl at the table sitting next to Crimson Beast Tamer, "you'll have to handle this operation for now."_

_ The girl nodded hesitantly._

_ "Wait a second!" Kamui Katsuragi yelled from his seat, suddenly standing up. He was now 17, and his black hair was as spiky as ever, although he had visually matured through his body. "If it's that operation, wouldn't it be better to have Emi-san or me handle it?"_

_ "You two will be too obvious." Takuto said. "At this point, we need both of you at different positions. We need to be inconspicuous, without them suspecting it."_

_ Kamui looked upset, but didn't protest._

_ "Katsuragi. Sit down." The blonde man sitting next to Algos said seriously. "We have no time for your petty concerns."_

_ "W-Why you—"_

_ "Leon-kun! Kamui-kun! Don't fight!" Aichi said exasperatedly. They both looked at him annoyed, but obeyed._

_ "We'll counter it from underneath, where they don't expect it." Takuto said. "This meeting is done for now. Contact back with information if you find anything more. I agree with Toshiki Kai. It must be stopped." He smiled slightly. "Now let's return to earth. Your school is starting, isn't it?"_

_ "Tch." The dark-haired girl grumbled._

* * *

_**Vanguard Fight!  
Taiyō no Beam karadajū ni abite  
Stand Up saa Soul Chārge shite hashire  
Vanguard Fight, Ready Go! !  
Ready Go! ! **_

_**Atarashī Generation!  
Makiokose! **__**Revolution!  
Mirai e Navigation!  
Asu o kiri hiraite Break suru **_

_**Ike yo! **__**Perfect janakute mo ī sa  
(Drive Check Vanguard!)  
Tobeyo! **__**Seishun no sora e **_

_**Vanguard Fight!  
Taiyō no Beam karadajū ni abite  
Stand Up saa Soul Chārge shite hashire  
Aiyaiyaiyaiyaiyaiya!**_

_**Vanguard Fight!  
Ride on the wave! Nani mo osorenaide  
Shōri no Card furikazase saa ikou  
Ayaiyaiyaiyaiyaiya!**_

_**Vanguard Fight, Ready go! !**_

* * *

"Last call for entries to Vanguard Academy. I repeat, last call for entries to Vanguard Academy." The speaker said, echoing throughout the entire city. Kids bustled through the streets, either happy about passing, sad about losing, or trying to get to the testing on time before it was too late.

_Here at last._ A boy with spiky black hair and steel-colored eyes thought as he walked up to the entrance of the large building used for Vanguard regionals and breathed out. He wore a black t-shirt with a matching black jacket and black jeans.

The boy walked in, tossing a few papers to the woman keeping track of the students auditioning to get into Vanguard Academy as he passed.

"Kouichi Kanbara is present for audition." He said before entering.

_This is the place where you told me to go. I will get stronger here._

**Ride 1: Entry Day**

"Will Kou—" The announcer broke off for a moment, trying to figure out how to pronounce the name as Kouichi sighed frustratedly from his seat. "Kouichi Kan- Kanbara? Will Kouichi Kanbara move to lift 3 for his final exam?"

Kouichi got up and began walking down the steps to the lift. He was transported up to the testing area and placed his deck onto the motion figure system.

"Are you ready?" asked the proctor across from Kouichi, shuffling his deck and placing it down.

"I could ask you the same thing," Kouichi replied easily, placing one hand on his now-facedown starting Vanguard. "After all, I already redrew."

The proctor placed one hand on his starting Vanguard. "STAND UP, VANGUARD!" They yelled at each other from across the field as the system activated around them

**_-linebreakofsomesort-_**

A girl with messy black hair down to the middle of her back and shoulder-length bangs yawned as she walked onto the balcony of the building, looking over all of the fights. She wore an oversized blue t-shirt with a purple Vanguard circle on it, ripped flare jeans and black sneakers. There was a headset as she was talking into it.

"So preparations are a go? Good, we'll get the plane up in an hour. Do you have that anti-trasportation sickness thing on it? I don't really like planes, but I don't like ships more." She said, listening to the voice on the other end. "Ugh, have a bucket ready just in case."

"Be careful, Heiwami." The voice said.

"Gotchya. It's just a plane ride, can't be that bad." The line cut off, and she stuffed the headset into her pocket, leaning on the railing of the balcony. "Let's see how the other students are doing."

_**-linebreakofsomesort-**_

"Master Blacksmith, Dragonan!" Kouichi called. **[Master Blacksmith, Dragonan – 4000]**

"Stardust Trumpeter!" yelled the proctor. **[Stardust Trumpeter – 6000]**

_On Cray, a bulky man with a hand and a half sword in his right hand formed in a flash of black light. The weapon was made entirely from black steel, and was quite simple in design. A plain black hilt and crossguard went with his black gloves, short-sleeved shirt, apron, pants and boots, all shiny from the fact that they were wet, and made from dyed leather._

_Across was a little girl with red hair in buns. She wore silver armour and colourful clothing underneath, with little wings on her back. She held a gold trumpet in her hand._

"I'll start by riding The Little Sage, Marron. I'll end my turn with that." The proctor said.

_The girl transformed into a boy with blue hair and a blue sage's outfit._ [Little Sage, Marron - 8000]

Kouichi snickered. "Royal Paladins? Pathetic. I'll beat the tar out of your pathetic knights with my own army! Draw!" Kouichi tore the top card from his deck, slipped it into his hand, and selected another card.

"I ride Grazel, the Missionary! Dragonan's skill moves him to the back-row." The blacksmith was replaced with a tall man clad in a black, hooded robe with a black wooden staff. Dragonan stabbed the sword into the dirt and jumped back, drawing a hammer from his apron. [Grazel, the Missionary - 8000]

"And I call the Dark Prophet, Ellindil!" A tall man with long grey hair clad in a black tunic belted at the waist, tight black pants, and black boots appeared on the field, grabbing the blade that Dragonan had wielded. [Dark Prophet, Elindil - 8000]

"I attack with Elindil!" Kouichi yelled. Grazel thrust his staff in front of him, and Elindil leapt across the field, his sword held for a thrust, his left hand out in front, palm out.

"No guard!" Elindil lashed out, and Marron swung his book. the sword cut through the cloth on the cover, revealing the wood underneath, and Ellindil's left hand lashed out as his sword slid down, punching Marron in the chest. Marron doubled over, and Ellindil swung his sword.

"Damage check . . . no trigger." Elindil retreated, leaving Marron to stand up again.

[Damage Check - Knight of Silence, Gallatin - No Trigger]

"Next, I attack with my vanguard, boosted by Dragonan!" Grazel leapt across the intervening space, and Marron, once again, held up the book to block. Grazel's staff shattered the book on contact, but the staff was stopped dead.

"Drive check!" Kouichi yelled, the back end of Grazel's staff smashed into marron's side.

[Drive Check - The Black Knight, Morgarath - No Trigger]

"Turn end!" Kouichi yelled. "Dragonan goes back to my deck!"

**Kouichi – Proctor**

**4 – Hand – 5**

**0 – Soul - 1**

**0 -Damage – 2**

**0 – Counterblasted – 0**

**Field:**

**none – Dark Prophet, Elindil - - - none – none**

**none – Grazel the Missionary - - - Little Sage, Marron – none**

**none – none - - - none - none**

"I draw." The test proctor said. "And ride, the Knight of Silence, Gallatin! I call another Gallatin, Starlight unicorn, and Marron to rear-guard! Starlight Unicorn's skill gives power 2000 to my rear-guard Gallatin! Rear-guard Gallatin attacks first!" Gallatin leapt across the field, towards the Missionary. **[10000 + 2000 = 12000]**

"No guard! Damage Check."

[Damage Check - Black Esquire, Ramon - No Trigger]

"No trigger." said Kouichi. Gallatin's blade struck Grazel in the chest, cutting open his robe to reveal a tight black shirt underneath; the blade scored his chest, drawing blood. It was long and shallow.

"I attack with my Vanguard!" Grazel nodded, and held up his staff in both hands. "Drive check."

[Drive Check - Margal - Draw Trigger]

"Draw Trigger activated! Power to Vanguard and I draw one card" He slid out one card from the top of his deck, adding it to his hand, making 5 cards again. The Vanguard scored a scratch in Grazel's left side, drawing a little blood and staining his robe.

**[Damage Check – Master Blacksmith, Dragonan – Draw Trigger]**

"Turn end!"

Kouichi – Proctor

4 – Hand – 5

0 – Soul - 2

2 – Damage – 2

0 – Counterblasted – 0

Field:

none – Dark Prophet, Elindil - - - none – none

none – Grazel the Missionary - - - Knight of Silence, Gallatin – Little Sage, Marron

none – none - - - Knight of Silence, Gallatin – Starlight Unicorn

"My turn!" Kouichi slid his gloved hand onto the deck and slipped away the top card, adding it to his hand.

"Now ride! The Black Knight, Morgarath!" _A knight clad in black armour replaced the hooded Grazel, wielding a dagger in his right hand and a shield on his left arm. Black hair stuck out under his helmet, and Kouichi's face glared out from around the nose-guard. _**[The Black Knight, Morgarath – 9000]**

"His skill takes his power down by 2000 . . . but let's fix that! I call, Black Esquire, Ramon!" A young boy, clad in a black turncoat over black chainmail appeared behind the black knight. "I activate his skill! By placing him into the soul, Morgarath's power grows by 3000!" **[Black Esquire, Ramon – 6000]**

_The esquire helped his master belt on a sword, and Morgarath drew the blade, swinging it back and forth a few times. Ramon disappeared as Kouichi moved the card into the Soul._

"In his place, I call Ellindil, the Knight of Emptiness, Shapur, Eager Squire, Dreg, and I move Ellindil, and in his place, call Leon, the Bandit!"

_A black-clad ninja with a katana held backwards in his right hand, 2 young boys in black chainmail and turncoats with short swords, and a man with long grey hair with only a tight black fur vest, hanging open, black pants and black boots to cover his muscular body held a 2-handed axe like a toy appeared around the black knight. Ellindil jumped to the back, terrified. _**[Dark Prophet, Elindil – 8000] [Knight of Emptiness, Shapur – 10000] [Eager Squire, Dreg – 6000] [Leon, the Bandit – 8000]**

"Morgarath attacks your Vanguard! With Dreg's skill, his power is 20000!" Morgarath charged across the plain, his sword held over his head and his shield in front of him. **[7000 + 3000 + 6000 + 4000 = 20000]**

"I guard with Flogal!" yelled the proctor, "Also, I intercept with Gallatin!" Gallatin jumped in front of the Vanguard, and was quickly joined by Flogal, for a total power of 25000.

"Drive check . . . no trigger." Grazel appeared next to Morgarath's head, even as he cut down Gallatin and shield-bashed Flogal, but was too weak to fight the Vanguard. He jumped back.

**[Drive Check – Leon, the Bandit – No Trigger]**

"Counterblast 2!" Kouichi yelled as he took out a card from his deck. "Also, I retire the Dreg behind my Vanguard!" _Dreg and Morgarath were consumed by an oval of black fire. _

"Oh King and God, your dark knights await! RIDE, THE VANGUARD! I SUPERIOR RIDE, THE KING AND GOD OF THE DARK ONES, THE SHADOW KNIGHT!"

_When the fire died, a knight stood in the place, in a black shirt, black vest with scabbards sticking out the sides, black pants, and black boots. He held a pair of katana so they lay back against his arms, like a dragon waiting to take flight and terrorize a city. _**[The King and God of the Dark Ones, the Shadow Knight – 11000]**

"The Shadow Knight is rested when he is Superior ridden, so save your terror for the next turn. But my turn's not over yet! Boosted by Ellindil, Leon, the Bandit attacks your Vanguard!" His grey hair flying in the wind, Leon charged across the battlefield, axe above his head, yelling incoherently. **[8000 + 8000 = 16000]**

"Bringer of Good Luck, Epona will guard that!"

_Leon sliced Epona in half, and, quicker than should have been possible, sliced up at Gallatin, who parried expertly. Leon jumped back._

"I attack with Knight of Emptiness, Shapur!" the ninja jumped forward, his sword held in a similar fashion to Kouichi's blades. **[10000 + 8000 = 18000]**

"No guard! Damage check."

[Damage Check - Flogal - Stand Trigger]

"Stand trigger. Power to Vanguard." Shapur dropped on top of Gallatin, slicing with his blade as he landed, on a slight angle so he could use his blade, but his eyes intent on Gallatin, who parried and launched a counterattack. Shapur dropped, kicked Gallatin's feet from under him, and cut open his side before jumping back.

"I end."

**Kouichi – Proctor**

**1 – Hand – 3**

**3 – Soul – 2**

**2 – Damage – 3**

**2 – Counterblasted – 0 **

**Field:**

**Dark Prophet, Elindil – Leon, the Bandit - - - none – none**

**none – The King and God of Dark Ones, The Shadow Knight - - - Knight of Silence, Gallatin – Little Sage, Marron**

**Dark Prophet, Elindil – Knight of Emptiness, Shapur - - - none – Starlight Unicorn**

"I stand and draw!" The proctor called out, "And ride, the Kind of Knights, Alfred! I call two Gallatin and a Morgana! Boosted by Starlight Unicorn, Gallatin attacks your Vanguard!" **[10000 + 6000 = 16000]**

Kouichi made no move to stop the attack, and Gallatin's blade managed to make a long, shallow cut along his upper right arm.

**[Damage Check – Master Blacksmith, Dragonan – Draw Trigger]**

"Draw trigger activated. Power to Shadow Dragon and I draw 1 card." Kouichi said, drawing. **[11000 + 5000 = 16000]**

"My Vanguard attacks yours! The king always attack without support, but he gets 2000 power for every Royal Paladin in the rear-guard!" **[18000]**

"I guard with Dark Prophet, Ellindil!"

"Twin Drive! First . . . and second . . . no triggers."

**[Drive Check – Crimson Butterfly, Brigitte – No Trigger]**

**[Drive Check – Bringer of Good Luck, Epona – Critical Trigger]**

"Critical and power to Gallatin! I attack with Gallatin and Morgana's boost!" **[10000 + 6000 + 5000 = 21000]**

_The knight leapt forwards and sliced the opposing knight across the side, causing him to yell in pain._

**[Damage Check – The Black Knight, Morgarath – No Trigger]**

**[Damage Check – Master Blacksmith, Dragonan – Draw Trigger]**

"Turn end."

**Kouichi – Proctor**

**2 – Hand – 2**

**3 – Soul – 3**

**4 – Damage – 3**

**2 – Counterblasted – 0 **

**Field:**

**Dark Prophet, Elindil – Leon, the Bandit - - - Knight of Silence, Gallatin – Knight of Rose, Morgana**

**none – The King and God of Dark Ones, The Shadow Knight - - - King of Knights, Alfred – Little Sage, Marron**

**Dark Prophet, Elindil – Knight of Emptiness, Shapur - - - Knight of Silence, Gallatin – Starlight Unicorn**

Kouichi smirked. "This . . . is the Final Turn!"

"I only have 3 damage!"

Kouichi ignored him. "I stand and draw! I retire Knight of Emptiness, Shapur, and, in his place, call Grazel, the Missionary (behind Vanguard) and High Priest Jacorin!" A man in a long, flowing black robe held a staff made of obsidian in his left hand appeared next to the Shadow Dragon.

"I activate his skill! I counter blast two and drop 1! All units on my field other than The Shadow Knight get 2000 power!" All the units glowed blue, gaining 2000 power.

"Now, boosted by Elindil, I attack your Vanguard with High Priest Jacorin!" **[10000 + 8000 + 2000 + 2000 = 22000]**

"I intercept with 2 Gallatins and guard with Marron!" _Jacorin easily defeated the 2 knights and mage, but stopped dead when confronted by Alfred. He jumped back._

"Next I attack with my Vanguard, boosted by Ellindil!" **[11000 + 8000 + 2000 = 21000]**

"No guard!"

The Shadow Dragon jumped forward. "Twin Drive! The first . . ."

[Drive Check - Grazel, the Missionary - No Trigger]

"The second . . ."

[Drive Check - Dark Priest, Ledom - Stand Trigger]

"Stand Trigger activated! I stand Jacorin! Power 5000! Shadow Dragon's skill, he gets 2000 power when a Stand trigger is revealed!"

**[Damage Check – Knight of Rose, Morgana – No Trigger]**

"Damage Check . . . No trigger."

"I attack with Leon!" **[8000 + 8000 + 2000 + 2000 = 20000]**

"No guard!" Leon cleaved open Alfred's armor, his axe getting a cut from shoulder to hip. Blood oozed from the wound. "Damage check . . . no trigger."

**[Damage Check – Solitary Knight, Gancelot – No Trigger]**

"I told you it was Final Turn! Jacorin attacks again! Power 17000!" a beam of darkness shot from the end of the staff, striking Alfred's chest.

"Damage check."

**[Damage Check – Covenant Knight, Randolf – No Trigger]**

"Congradulations. You have been accepted into Vanguard Academy." The proctor said.

**Kouichi – Proctor**

**2 – Hand – 2**

**3 – Soul – 3**

**4 – Damage – 3**

**2 – Counterblasted – 0 **

**Field:**

**Dark Prophet, Elindil – Leon, the Bandit - - - Knight of Silence, Gallatin – Knight of Rose, Morgana**

**Grazel the Missionary – The King and God of Dark Ones, The Shadow Knight - - - King of Knights, Alfred – Little Sage, Marron**

**Dark Prophet, Elindil – High Priest, Jacorin - - - Knight of Silence, Gallatin – Starlight Unicorn**

_**-linebreakofsomesort-**_

"That's it? Ugh." Heiwami sighed, pulling out her headset and setting it up again. "Heiwami Soratsuki to base, Heiwami Soratsuki to base, do you read me?"

"Why do you insist on doing that?" The voice on the other end asked.

"Cause it's fun. Anyway, reporting from auditions. Get stronger proctors. These are too weak. They're making arrogant people get in thinking they're actually somebody."

"Aren't you being harsh?"

"Nope. I'm being truthful. Just do it for next year. Please!" The headset shut off, and she stuffed it back into her pocket. She breathed in, then out. She sighed. "Idiots everywhere."

_**-linebreakofsomesort-**_

Elsewhere on the field, one of the fights about to come to a close between an applicant and a proctor, but the fight isn't going well for the applicant.

**Proctor - Emil**

**4 – Hand – 2**

**3 - Soul – 4**

**4 – Damage – 5**

**2 – Counter Blasted – 2**

**Field:**

**Karma Queen – Transmuted Thief, Steal Spider - - - - Knight of Superior Skills, Beumains – Blessing Owl**

**Blade Seed Squire – Avatar of the Plains, Behemoth - - - - Battlefield Storm, Sagramore – Fortune Bell**

**Lily Knight of the Valley – Iris Knight - - - - Knight of Elegant Skills, Gareth - none**

_This isn't looking too good for me, I'm sitting at five damage...if I take one more damage...plus Beaumains can't stand this turn. What should I do? She got two units to intercept and four cards in hand ready to block my attack…_

The boy with flat, light blonde hair and lime green eyes panicked as he thought about the situation he was in at the moment. His white t-shirt was slightly wet from him thinking too hard and sweating about it.

"R-Right. I stand and draw…" He reached his gloved hand down to turn his vanguard vertically, and moved to stand his rear guards.

"Hold it, Mr. Walker!" His Proctor called out. His gloved hand stopped several inches from a card.

"Um, yes?"

"You can't stand Beaumains due to my Karma Queen skill, or did you forget?" It was a mix between a statement and a question.

Emil waved his gloved hands in front of him in a panicked fashion. "I- I'm sorry, it just I- I n- n- not use t- to f- fighting a- a M-Meagcolony and a - a Neo Nectar deck b-before, I sorry!"

The Proctor pressed her hand against her forehead, and shook her head. She tried to keep count of how many apologies he gave during the match, and this had to be at least the fortieth time. She lowered her gloved hand from her forehead, and opened her mouth. "I'm just reminding you, there no need to apologize."

"R-Right!" Emil drew his card and looked at his hand. "Um, I ride Great Silver Wolf, Garmore!" He shouted as the gold and silver man in armour tore onto the field. **[Great Silver Wolf, Garmore – 10000]**

"By counterblasting two cards, I can call a grade two or less Gold Paladin to a rearguard!" He flipped two cards and fanned out his deck. He took a card and replaced it with the unable-to-stand Beaumains. "Sleygal Sword! Sleygal Sword's counterblast, giving him 2000 power!" **[Sleygal Sword – 9000]**

"I also call Precipice Whirlwind, Sagramore behind Gareth!" A little boy with a bow appeared behind the warrior. ** [Precipice Whirlwind, Sagramore – 6000]**

"Boosted by Blessing Owl, Sleygal Sword attacks your Vanguard!" **[9000 + 2000 + 6000 = 17000]**

"I guard with Dancing Sunflower!" The proctor held out the card.

"N-Next, boosted by Sagramore, Gareth attacks!" **[8000 + 6000 = 14000]**

"Blade Seed Squire guards!"

"W-What?!" Emil only had one attack left. "T-Then, boosted by Fortune Bell, Garmore attacks! Garmore's Limit Break! Since I have four or more damage, he gains 5000 power!" **[10000 + 5000 + 5000 = 20000]**

"I guard with Dungan Chestnut. Also, Iris Knight intercepts."

"N-No…" Emil gulped. "Twin Drive….. first check….. no trigger." He added the card to his hand sadly.

**[Drive Check – Sacred Guardian Beast, Nemean Lion – No Trigger]**

"Second check….."

He flipped the top card and it flashed. Emil's eyes widened when he saw the card.

**[Drive Check – Flame of Victory – Critical Trigger]**

"Flame of Victory! Critical trigger!"

"What?! A critical trigger now?!" The proctor gasped.

"The power and critical both go to Garmore!" Emil shouted happily.

Garmore jumped forward and slashed through the two guarding units. Then he charged at Behemoth and cut right through the beast.

"Damage trigger check. First check… nothing" The proctor placed the card into her damage zone.

**[Damage Check – Karma Queen – No Trigger]**

"Second check?"

**[Damage Check – Four Clover Fairy – Draw Trigger]**

Emil and the proctor stared at it. "Draw trigger…." The proctor said sadly and sighed. "You pass."

Behemoth dissolved and Garmore stood up proudly.

"I-I won." Emil said blankly, not realizing what he had just done. "I actually won." He snapped out of his trance and immediately bowed. "I'm so sorry! Sorry sorry sorry!"

**Proctor - Emil**

**4 – Hand – 3**

**3 - Soul – 4**

**6– Damage – 5**

**2 – Counter Blasted – 5**

**Field:**

**Karma Queen – Transmuted Thief, Steal Spider - - - - Sleygal Sword – Blessing Owl**

**Blade Seed Squire – Avatar of the Plains, Behemoth - - - - Great Silver Wolf, Garmore – Fortune Bell**

**Lily Knight of the Valley – Iris Knight - - - - Knight of Elegant Skills, Gareth – Precipice Whirlwind, Sagramore**

Heiwami watched the sight and sighed. "That guy apologizes WAY too much! Still…." She watched the guy bowed over and over as the proctor sweat-dropped and tried to get him to stop. ". . he does have potential. I guess."

"U-Um, excuse me?" A voice came from behind her. Heiwami turned around to see a Caucasian-skinned girl with amber eyes and long, silver hair. "Could you please tell me whose fight is next?" Some boys around them blushed at the sight of the pretty, silver-haired girl.

Heiwami raised one of her eyebrows as she pointed at the speaker behind the girl.

"Would Rei Anakisa please report to field 2? Miss Rei Anakisa!"

"A-Ah! Yes!" The girl nodded and ran off the balcony to her fight.

"Anakisa? That's the Anakisa?" Heiwami muttered to herself. "Oh whatever. See what she's got." She looked around at the fights again, then at her watch. "We're running out of time. Hurry it up."

**_-linebreakofsomesort-_**

**Rei – Proctor**

**3 – Hand – 2**

**4 – Soul – 6**

**5 – Damage – 5**

**2 – Counter Blasted – 4**

**Field:**

**Happy Bell, Nociel – none - - - - Scarlet Witch, Coco – Psychic Bird**

**Thousand Ray Pegasus – Circular Saw Kiriel - - - - CEO Amaterasu – Battle Sisters, Chocolat**

**Burst Shot, Bethnael – Drill Bullet, Geniel - - - - CEO Amaterasu – Oracle Guardian Gemini**

"Stand and draw!" Rei called as she drew her card and looked at her hand thoroughly. "I call Million Ray Pegasus to the empty rear-guard!" The Pegasus galloped onto the field.

"Nociel boosts Million Ray Pegasus and attacks your Vanguard!" She called as the Pegasus charged towards the goddess.

"I guard with Lozenge Magus!" The proctor called.

"Geniel attacks boosted by Bethnael! Geniel's skill! Since my vanguard is an Angel Feather, he gains 2000 power for a grand total of 20000!"

"What?!" The proctor called and looked at his hand. Dark Cat. Shield 5000. "No guard!"

_Geniel shot a bullet towards Amaterasu and she screamed as it hit._

"Damage trigger check."

**[Damage Check – Sword Dancer Angel – No Trigger]**

"No trigger…" The proctor sighed. "You win."

"Yay!" Rei cheered.

"Attention. Will all successful applicants please board the plane? All successful applicants, please board the plane outside." The speaker came on and said.

Rei smiled as she made her way to the plane, accidentally bumping into Emil on the way. "Oh! Sorry!" She apologized.

"U-Um, that's okay. I'm sorry." Emil said quickly. Rei smiled again at him, causing a blush on the boy, before walking onto the plane. Emil let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding. He was way too stressed out.

Rei sat down in the seat next to a silent boy, she thought is was Kouichi, remembering the name from his match, after putting her luggage away and took out her music player. She put her headphones on and began listening to music as she read a manga.

_I still can't believe I actually won! I pulled out a critical trigger on my twin drive! _Emil thought as he followed the successful applicants to board the plane for the academy. He took the seat behind Kouichi.

_Still, here we go! It's off to Vanguard Academy! _Emil thought excitedly.

_Don't worry Grandpa! I'll definitely help you. _Rei thought determinedly.

_Vanguard Academy. I'll get stronger here!_ Kouichi thought, his fist clenching around the magazine.

Heiwami sighed. "Let's get this over with."

_Run run run. That's all I ever seem to do, isn't it. But if I complete the mission, everything'll return to normal. Everything…_

The speaker system on the plane crackled to life. _"Attention all passengers! The plane will be taking off now! Please fasten your seatbelts! And as your captain, let me be the first person to say welcome to Vanguard Academy!"_

* * *

_**Nan man-kai demo makenai kimochi dorō shite  
Kagayaku mirai e Ride massuguna kimi ga sukida yo! **_

_**Naitemo waratte mo ichido kiri no shinken shōbu honkidesu hora hibana chirase  
Seikai mo riyū mo nakute ī yo yancha-gokoro kattedesu! Tsukande hanasanaikara **_

_**Makezugirai kuyashī toki wa namida shite mata tsuyoku narou  
Tsugi no itte wa (hisshō! )  
Nan demo ari no (jōkyō! )  
Ima kirifuda misete ageru yo **_

_**Nan man-kai demo atsui kimochi dorō shite  
Kimi ga omou mama ni Ride don'na sora mo toberu yo **_

_**Genkai toppa de saigo wa makikaesou So Let' s Fight!  
Matta nashi ne honki dashite motto saikō no Fight o!**_

* * *

**Me: Oh gods rewriting all that was tough. I think I worked out most of the kinks. Good enough for now. Anyway, bye!**

Master Blacksmith, Dragonan  
Grade 0/Human – Shadow Knights/Power 4000/Shield 5000/Draw Trigger  
Auto: When another Shadow Knights rides this unit, you may call this card to (RC).  
Auto: When this unit boosts, at the beginning of the end phase of that turn, return this unit to your deck, and shuffle your deck.

Reaper of Souls, Haradrim  
Grade 0/Demon – Shadow Knights/Power 5000/Shield 10000/Critical Trigger

Dark Priest, Ledom  
Grade 0/Human – Shadow Knights/Power 5000/Shield 10000/Stand Trigger

Field Medic, Graak  
Grade 0/Human – Shadow Knights/Power 5000/Shield 10000/Heal Trigger

Dark Prophet, Elindil  
Grade 1/Human – Shadow Knights/Power 8000/Shield 5000

Black Esquire, Ramon  
Grade 1/Human – Shadow Knights/Power 6000/Shield 5000  
Activate [R]: [Put this unit into your soul] If your Vanguard is "The Black Knight, Morgarath", you may pay the cost. If you do, that unit gets Power +3000 until end of turn.

Grazel, the Missionary  
Grade 1/Human – Shadow Knights/Power 8000/Shield 5000

Eager Squire, Dreg  
Grade 1/Human – Shadow Knights/Power 6000/Shield 5000  
Auto [R]: When this unit boosts a «Shadow Knights» Vanguard with the name "The King and God of the Dark Ones, The Shadow Knight", the boosted unit gets Power +4000 until end of that battle.

The Black Knight, Morgarath  
Grade 2/Human – Shadow Knights/Power 9000/Shield 5000  
Continuous [V]: This unit loses -2000  
Auto [V]: [Counterblast 2, retire one rearguard] If this unit's attack is successfully blocked, you may pay the cost. If you do, superior ride one "The King and God of the Dark Ones, the Shadow Knight" from your deck in Rest.

Knight of Emptiness, Shapur  
Grade 2/Human – Shadow Knights/Power 10000/Shield 5000

Knight of Lies, Dramon  
Grade 2/Human – Shadow Knights/Power 8000/Shield 5000  
Auto: When this Unit intercepts, and you have a 《Shadow Knights》 Vanguard, during that battle, this Unit's Shield gains +5000.

Leon, the Bandit  
Grade 2/Human – Shadow Knights/Power 8000/Shield 5000  
Activate [V/R]: [Counterblast 2] When this unit's attack hits a Vanguard, you may pay the cost. If you do, discard one random card from your opponent's hand.

The King and God of the Dark Ones, the Shadow Knight  
Grade 3/Abyss Dragon – Shadow Knights/Power 11000  
Continuous [V/R]: If you have a non-«Shadow Knights» vanguard or rear-guard, this unit loses 2000 power.  
Continuous [V/R]: During your turn, you cannot give trigger effects to this card.  
Auto [V]: If this unit's drive check reveal's a stand trigger, this unit gains +2000 power.

High Priest, Jacorin  
Grade 3/Human – Shadow Knights/Power 10000  
Activate [R]: [Counterblast 2, drop one Shadow Knights from your hand] If your Vanguard's name is "The King and God of the Dark Ones, the Shadow Knight", all of your rearguards gain +2000 until the end of your turn.

**Character Files**

Name: Kouichi Kanbara  
Age: 15  
Hair: spiky black hair  
Eyes: steel grey  
Personality: Generally a nice person, but goes a bit crazy during fights.  
Fun Facts: He drinks way more milk than the average person, and runs like a four-legged animal. You know, on his hands and legs.  
Creator: littleblackwing

Name: Heiwami Soratsuki  
Age: 15  
Hair: long black with chin-length bangs  
Eyes: dark brown  
Personality: Cold. Avoids people for some reason. Seems to be connected in good and bad ways. Very quick to anger.  
Fun Facts: She hates getting wet, which includes swimming, showers, etc. Her left eye twitches when she gets annoyed and is about to burst out in anger. She yells more than the average person.  
Creator: Tsukuyomi-chan

Name: Emil Walker  
Age: 16  
Hair: light blonde hair which sticks out at the front.  
Eyes: lime green  
Personality: Very shy and timid. Tends to stutter a lot. Cowardly. Tends to apologize a lot.  
Fun Facts: He is very talented a cooking, winning a first-place trophy at his school for it. But he was too shy to go on stage to claim it so they gave it to the runner up instead.  
Creator: Black Chains of Abyss

Name: Rei Anakisa:  
Age: 15  
Hair: long silver hair  
Eyes: golden eyes  
Personality: Kind and caring towards others. Very supporting towards friends and a bit fragile about her emotions.  
Fun Facts: Sleeps with a stuffed bear called Kuma-chan. When she blushes, she blushes so hard her forehead gets hot and people think she has a fever.  
Creator: Animegirl426

* * *

**Me: Yeah… Anyway, review, favourite, follow, have fun!**

**Astral: You're ignoring me.**

**Me: Bye! Ignore the ghost in the background!**

**Astral: I'm not a ghost.**

* * *

_(Believe In My Existence / JAM Project)_

_Kouichi: Finally made it!_

_Heiwami: Ugh, I hate planes…. Gonna need another bag…_

_Emil: F-Figures I'd be ranked worst out of all of the students…. Lowest rank…_

_Rei: This place is huge!_

_Emil: It's too big! I'm lost!_

_Heiwami: (sighs) Maps are in the office. Now please let sleep in peace._

_All: Next time, "Welcome to Vanguard Academy!"_

_Kouichi: I do agree with Emil though, this place is huge!_


	2. Welcome to Vanguard Academy

**Me: Kay, before we start, for the last chapter, I got a few questions as to why, WHY, would Kouichi use The Shadow Knight, who's skills are basically almost all drawbacks. Well, that'll be explained later. Also, that's how I figured how the Shadow Knights play. It just seems like a huge pile of drawbacks because Kouichi's currently not strong at Vanguard, so he's never figured out that he should try playing the actual Shadow Knight way, instead of just use cards which he liked.**

**Astral: So basically, he's weak.**

**Me: Well, currently. It takes time for people to realize their own weaknesses. When he does though, it'll hit him hard. The real Shadow Knights playstyle will be revealed when he finally realizes it takes more than just cards which he likes to win. It takes strategy. He's currently making quite a lot of beginner mistakes right now, as you could see in the last chapter, using up his hand, guessing quite a lot, yeah that stuff.**

**Astral: Everybody takes time to get stronger. As well, don't you think you're taking too much time on this?**

**Me: What? OH RIGHT! ONTO THE STORY! I DON'T OWN VANGUARD! I think I rushed this a bit.**

* * *

**Cardfight Vanguard: Cray's Heroes**

"_And another win for Team—" The announcer was cut off by the audience's deafening cheering. "This team has taken the Vanguard World by storm!"_

_On the stage were three people in large cloaks. The one on the right had a dark red cloak, covering up completely and waving to the crowd happily. The one in a dark yellow cloak to the right made no actions, standing still like a statue. The one in the middle's cloak was black, and his arms were crossed._

"_Oh lighten up you two!" The one in the dark red said. "We just won another circuit!"_

"_Who cares." The one in the dark yellow said._

"_In the end, it's all just a ploy." The middle one said, smirking although it wasn't visible. "Before they even realize it, the world will have changed. The only ones left standing in our way…."_

"_Team Q4." _

"_I know I know!"_

"_Since it's them, no doubt they have another plan up their sleeves. Although we'll counter anything they got. They don't know about that yet…"_

"_And there's nothing they can do once we do that." The dark yellow said. "Cutting off the power source."_

"_I still say it's going to disrupt the balance too much." Dark red replied. _

"_But then, we'll be unstoppable. Nobody can stand in our way." He looked around at the crowd all cheering for his team and smiled evilly. "Poor people. They don't know how much is going to change in a few short months…"_

* * *

_**Vanguard Fight!  
Taiyō no Beam karadajū ni abite  
Stand Up saa Soul Chārge shite hashire  
Vanguard Fight, Ready Go! !  
Ready Go! ! **_

_**Atarashī Generation!  
Makiokose! Revolution!  
Mirai e Navigation!  
Asu o kiri hiraite Break suru **_

_**Ike yo! Perfect janakute mo ī sa  
(Drive Check Vanguard!)  
Tobeyo! Seishun no sora e **_

_**Vanguard Fight!  
Taiyō no Beam karadajū ni abite  
Stand Up saa Soul Chārge shite hashire  
Aiyaiyaiyaiyaiyaiya!**_

_**Vanguard Fight!  
Ride on the wave! Nani mo osorenaide  
Shōri no Card furikazase saa ikou  
Ayaiyaiyaiyaiyaiya!**_

_**Vanguard Fight, Ready go! !**_

* * *

The plane rumbled as it took off from the ground, flying higher and higher into the air. The interior of the room was bright, with all the seats of business level. Students sat in their seats, reading books, looking through their cards, or sleeping.

"Excuse us but we'll be going through a slight bit of turbulence. Please buckle your seatbelts as the plane will rock quite a lot through these storms." The captain's voice came on over the speaker and said. All of the students obeyed.

Kouichi leaned on one elbow and looked through the window. The plane ride was annoying to him. Dark clouds gathered outside the plane, and it shook as white lightning struck around it.

"What?" He looked closer out the window. "What was that?"

He thought he saw what looked like fire. Fire in the middle of a storm? Huh?

There it was again! There was some fire outside of the window! He leaned to one side, trying to get a better view. The fire seemed to the lashing out at something.

"What's going on?" He muttered.

Rei looked up from her comic and looked at Kouichi with a confused expression, wondering why he looked so panicked. She looked around the plane. Things seemed to be normal.

But that dark-haired girl from before who was sitting near the entrance was gone.

**Ride 2: Welcome to Vanguard Academy**

"Get the stabilizers running now!" Heiwami practically screamed in the control cabin. "We can't crash this plane!" She stood in the middle of the controls, typing commands into the computer as other crew members ran around trying to help out the plane as well.

"This isn't a regular storm Miss Soratsuki!" A crew member said. Heiwami scowled. That was freaking plain obvious.

"This isn't good. I'm getting a look!" She barked. "Open up the hatch. I'm going in!"

She walked to a room on the side, where another member of the crew opened up a hatch on the ceiling. Cold, frigid air and rain raced in as Heiwami climbed up a ladder and out of the plane. The air pushed around her as she kept one foot inside the hatch to make sure she wasn't blown away by the blustering winds and rain.

She shivered as rain pelted her, wishing she had something other than just a t-shirt on. Her hair was flying around so much it'd be impossible to comb later on, and she had only been out for ten seconds, but was already chilled to the core. Stupid water.

There was a cruel woman's laugh from somewhere. "You think you can stop me?"

"Skull Witch Nemain! What do you think you're doing!" Heiwami yelled, her voice being nearly drowned out in the cold. She kept her arms up around her face to keep the rain off of it, and squinted through the gap to see a witch in black clothing and black crystals around her, with white lightning being conducted between them descend from some clouds. She held an almost clear skull in one hand, and a mean expression in the other.

"Why, what else? Making sure your little plane crashes here." Nemain smirked, throwing the skull she held into the air and catching it over and over casually.

"The council was settled! The Shadow Paladins have regained their pride! There's no more conflict!"

"Oh please, you think a little agreement will stop me?" Nemain yelled. "There's more to that little girl!"

She held out her skull, and white lightning raced from it towards Heiwami, who cringed. Fire erupted around her and the lightning was burnt away. Nemain backed up, frowning.

"Well, it seems you still got that going on. No matter, there are other ways as well. I'm never limited to just one." And with that, black crystals began raining down from the sky, hammering into the plane and around Heiwami. It hit the sides of her body and arms, slicing through and bleeding slightly. It kept raining down, the fires trying to burn them but some got through.

"What's wrong! Can't do anything since you don't have your deck with you?!" Nemain laughed, waving her hand to command the black crystals, now charged with her white lightning, to rain harder. The plane lurched to one side hard as fire sparked through the air and Heiwami lost her balance. She screamed as she fell backwards, grabbing onto the hatch with one hand to stop her from falling into the ocean many feet underneath. The fire died out around her as she held onto the edge of the hatch for dear life.

Well this sucked.

_**-linebreakofsomesort-**_

Many students inside the plane screamed as it lurched to one side hard. Belongings were tossed across the interior and a few began crying and praying for survival.

"This definitely isn't normal." Kouichi said to himself. "And I'm finding out what's going on here."

He stood up, squeezing past Rei and ran down the hall way to the front of the plane as quick as he could, all the way to the captain's cabin and controls. He put his ear to the door to, well, it wasn't eavesdropping! He was just checking to see what was going on!

He heard panicked shouts as the plane shook more and more. The plane lurched to the other side, dropping through the air slightly before gaining balance again and more students screamed on boards.

Then he felt cold wind from somewhere. Wind? They were inside a plane. There shouldn't have been any wind inside unless a door was open or something. It was coming from a door to the side, so he crept inside. A hatch on the ceiling was open, which was making rain enter the plane.

He walked underneath the hatch to see what was outside, then jumped back just in time to not get impaled by a black crystal which had flew into the ship, piercing the ground hard and actually making a hole in the hard metal of the plane. Even though these planes were supposed to be near indestructible. What…

"Little girl, you and your plane are both dropping into the ocean now!" He heard a woman yell from outside sadistically. The plane was going to drop into the ocean?!

He grabbed the ladder to the side and began climbing it and sticking his head outside. Rain pelted the plane so hard it made thunking sounds, and the strange black crystals were still slamming into the sides of the plane. The top was covered in bits of it.

"Hey kid! Get outta here!" Someone screamed next to him. He looked to see a black-haired girl, clothes ripped and stained red with blood, grabbing onto the hatch with one bloodied hand, and straining to keep her grip. She was about to fall off the plane! "It's freaking dangerous up here! Get out!"

"Then what are you doing here!" Kouichi yelled back, without thinking. He grabbed her hand then pulled her back into the plane through the hatch. They both tumbled inside, landing on the slightly damp ground of the interior.

"Are you running away? It won't help!" He heard the voice from outside yell again. He stuck his head out of the hatch again.

"Shut up already!" He yelled, then froze. Floating in mid-air was what seemed to be a real life version of the Shadow Paladin card, Skull Witch Nemain. It was a card. On Earth. Which is supposed to be impossible.

"I have no interest in you." She said, looking at him boredly. "But you and everyone else on the plane's about to get sent spiralling into the ocean. Have fun screaming on your way down!"

Nemain smirked and held out her skull. White lighting shook through it, sending it down and frying both engines on the plane. Without the engines, the plane stopped moving forwards, and began falling helplessly through the air.

Kouichi screamed. All of the kids inside the plane screamed as they fell through the air. Some of the crew members screamed. Heiwami screamed as she ran over to the controls and pushed a button.

"Code S.O.S.!" She screamed into the communications system. "I REPEAT! CODE S. O. SOURYUU!"

"On it!" A voice said from the speakers before it shut down. Heiwami looked outside the window, panicking. The plane was falling through the air. There was only one hope now.

_**-linebreakofsomesort-**_

"Code SOS!" A 21 year old woman with light blue hair and an outfit of white and dark blue yelled to the members of her ship. "Catch from above! 20 seconds until impact! Ready set now!"

Then in the ocean, a huge stately ship surfaced from the water. It was ten times the size of a cruise ship, with twenty times the functions. The sides were white, with a dark blue trim. On the side of the ship were the words 'Navalgazer' printed in gold.

Wind blew around the falling plane. It blew faster and faster, creating a hurricane to support the plane. Many of the students looked out the window to see a swirling pile of water and wind stopping them from falling to their deaths. The wind blew slower and slower, going down before setting it down on the main deck of the ship. The doors to the plane opened slowly, and mentally scarred students began filing out.

Heiwami, clutching her bleeding arm, came out of the plane last. "Well," She said, her voice hoarse, "that actually worked."

Then she collapsed onto the deck of the ship.

_**-linebreakofsomesort-**_

"I told you it was a good idea!" Heiwami heard as she woke up in an infirmary bed. She sat up, then winced at her injuries. There were bandages wrapped all around her body, and many students had sustained injuries during the fall so all of the beds around the room were filled. Standing beside her bed was the woman with blue hair and a pleasant expression on her face. "See, in case anything happened like a malfunction! We'd be there to catch the plane!"

"It wasn't a stupid malfunction…" Heiwami mumbled. "I dunno how or why, but Nemain appeared and began attacking the plane."

"Nemain?" The woman looked at her. "The Shadow Paladin? But they can't materialize in our world!"

"I know. Plus the Shadow Paladins are our allies now. So why would she attack?"

"I don't know!" The woman shrugged. "I already briefed the students on everything. We're taking you guys to the school this way by boat instead of plane."

"Boat?" Heiwami paled. She grabbed a bucket next to the bed, then threw up into it. She gasped. "Stupid… seasickness…"

"Oh well! We already patched up all the injuries of the students! It should be fine! Just rest until we get there! It'll be an hour or so." The woman walked out of the room, waving. "Bye!"

Heiwami stared after her, then lay back down in the bed. "Guess I lost the bet… since the plane crashed…"

She leaned over and threw up into the bucket again. "Mo…ving…too…much…"

_**-linebreakofsomesort-**_

"Hey everybody!" The woman yelled happily from the captain's spot at the wheel of the ship, overlooking all of the new students gathered on the deck. "After all that chaos, we'll be taking you to Vanguard Academy by boat, so don't worry anymore! You're in good hands!"

"Captain! Why is the storage room full of bunny rabbits instead of the food supply!" One of the crew members suddenly yelled, running up to her.

"Oh! Cause the little bunnies are so cute!" She squealed.

Kouichi stared. "Are we really going to be safe with her as the captain…"

"Well, there's nothing to worry about! Welcome to the ship Navalgazer and I'm your captain Charlene Chen!" She waved happily.

The students stared. "That's the legendary fighter Charlene Chen of Team Dreadnought?" One said.

"Not… what I imagined…" Another said.

"We're nearly there! You can see it in the distance! Charlene yelled happily from the helm of the ship. A crowd of students ran to the front of the ship as well just in time to yell as it crashed into the docks, destroying part of the pathway.

"Oh… whoops!" Charlene laughed as the students stared at her. "I forgot the anchor and brakes again! Anyway, lower the boards so we can get these little kids off of our ship!"

"Little kids? We're 15 or so!" One kid yelled.

"That's littler than me!" She sang. "Now time for you kids to go!"

Then all of the kids were pushed off of the boat by the crew members and fell onto the solid ground underneath.

"And now all of you gotta walk to the main hall!" Charlene yelled to them. "It's a two hour walk from here so you'd better get started! Usually the plane would take you there but, well, it broke! Have fun walking!"

Then her boat began to sail away from the shore, leaving a hundred kids all piled there wondering what the hell had just happened.

_**-linebreakofsomesort-**_

"Ahem, I'm sorry for… all that you students have had to go through…" The middle aged man with brown hair on a large screen said as all of the new students walked into the large ballroom, exhausted from the walk. It had taken 3 hours to find their way out of the jungle, an hour to get across the moat (yes, for some reason the main building had a huge moat around it), and an hour to find this orientation room. "I'm Principal Brown, the principal of Vanguard Academy. Usually the students would have gotten here faster…"

"It took us forever to find this place!" One kid yelled angrily.

"Yeah!" Soon all kids had erupted into angry protests.

"Well… it would usually take 30 minutes for students to get here… did you forget about the shortcut through the jungle?"

The students stopped.

"Short cut..?"

"Surely the guides told you about how to get to the island without encountering the piranhas, right?" Principal Brown asked.

"The tour guides were all unconscious from the plane wreck." A bandaged up Heiwami said from behind him, also inside the Principal's office.

"Oh. Well, Charlene must have told them—"

"This is Charlene we're talking about here."

"Oh…" Principal Brown looked at the angry students, then laughed nervously. "Well, onto procedures then! After this, you will be separated into the three dorms. As you all know, in one month, there will be an individual tournament amongst our students. The winner will win one million dollars!"

"Woah!" Some students shouted.

"In six months, there will be a team tournament. All students will form a team of four to compete. The winning team's members will also each win one million dollars!

"Students will be living in dorms together. Some rooms may have two instead of one for the first week due to renovations. Your school uniforms will be waiting in your room. Please be aware that your room is based on how you ranked in the exam." The principal spoke. "The three dorms are Dragonic Red, Vermillion Yellow, and Soul Saver Blue. The people who ranked the lowest and or couldn't pay the full school tuition will be in Dragonic Red. The people who were able to pay the tuition and scored average will be in Vermillion Yellow. The people who scored extra well and or donated extra money to the school will be in Soul Saver Blue. Your house cards have the dorm you're in written on it.

"As well, there's a welcome dinner tomorrow. I hope to see you all there enjoying yourselves. It will be in the main dining hall for the Soul Saver Blue dorm. That is all. The teachers will take you to your required dorm now. Welcome to Vanguard Academy." Then the screen shut off.

_**-linebreakofsomesort-**_

_ Dear Tayuya,_

_ I finally made it to Vanguard Academy today. Got put in the Vermillion Yellow dorm, which basically means I'm ranked somewhere near the middle of the students. The island is huge! It took five hours just to get to the main office! But apparently it could have taken just 30 minutes through the short cut, which someone forgot to tell us about._

_ That someone is the legendary fighter Charlene Chen of Team Dreadnought. The plane which was supposed to take us all the way to Vanguard Academy actually crashed! It was falling through the air and then a ship appeared in the water, then some weird wind made it so that we didn't crash. The ship was hers, and she took us to the island and dumped us there. She seems a bit…. Off._

_ But I haven't even gotten to the weirdest part yet. See, there's a reason why the plane crashed. While it was flying something happened and it began to shake. I thought it was weird so I went to check it out, and then you know what I saw? I saw a girl with fire around her, fighting Skull Witch Nemain. Yeah, that's right. The Shadow Paladin card. The card had actually materialized in the air! You'll probably think that I'm just joking around, since it's impossible. I thought it was impossible too, hell I still think it's impossible! But it happened. It actually happened. The card was attacking the plane and made it fall out of the air._

_ Well, tomorrow we're going to have a proper tour around the school, as well as a welcome dinner where we'll meet all of the other students. This school is really strange Tayuya, but I'll get used to it. It makes no sense what's happened here. Maybe I was just hallucinating. But it seemed really real…_

_ Oh well. I hope you're having fun where you are. Hopefully you can play Vanguard up there as well._

_ Your friend,_

_ Kouichi._

* * *

**_Nan man-kai demo makenai kimochi dorō shite__  
__Kagayaku mirai e Ride massuguna kimi ga sukida yo! _**

**_Naitemo waratte mo ichido kiri no shinken shōbu honkidesu hora hibana chirase__  
__Seikai mo riyū mo nakute ī yo yancha-gokoro kattedesu! Tsukande hanasanaikara _**

**_Makezugirai kuyashī toki wa namida shite mata tsuyoku narou__  
__Tsugi no itte wa (hisshō! )__  
__Nan demo ari no (jōkyō! )__  
__Ima kirifuda misete ageru yo _**

**_Nan man-kai demo atsui kimochi dorō shite__  
__Kimi ga omou mama ni Ride don'na sora mo toberu yo _**

**_Genkai toppa de saigo wa makikaesou So Let' s Fight!__  
__Matta nashi ne honki dashite motto saikō no Fight o!_**

* * *

**Me: Dang, I managed to actually do all that in such a short period of time! Bit of a record for me!**

**Astral: Isn't that just because you procrastinate so much?**

**Me: No! Anyway, gonna work on my other stories after I finish posting this, review, favourite, follow, if you say anything I think might be an insult in the reviews I'll probably delete it…**

**Astral: …..**

**Me: …. Well have fun! Bye! Review again! Any questions and PM me about it. Don't put it in the review cause it gets cluttery and there could be spoilers.**

* * *

_Kouichi: That was so tiring!_

_Emil: W-Why didn't they tell us there was a short cut!_

_Rei: I'm done… I need a break for, forever…_

_Heiwami: Oh come on it wasn't that bad._

_Kouichi: You didn't even walk with us! You got a ride on the boat all the way to the Principal's office!_

_Heiwami: I'm injured, I get privileges._

_All: Next time, "An Awkward Dinner"_

_Heiwami: Jeez you guys are so annoying!_


	3. An Awkward Dinner

**Me: I do not own Cardfight Vanguard blah blah blah onto the story yeah sure whatever don't feel like saying anything else or pausing to take a breath otherwise known as a pausing for a sentence.**

* * *

**Cardfight Vanguard: Cray Heroes**

"Yes? You called?" Heiwami said as she walked into Principal Brown's office. All of the students had settled into their dorms yesterday and were getting used to their new life at the academy. She had on a plain white t-shirt and jeans, with the Dragonic Red dorm's red jacket tied around her waist instead of wearing it. There were bandages wrapped around her arm, legs, and middle, since she was still healing from the unpredicted attack yesterday.

She sat down in the chair across from the large desk of the principal. The office was large and spacious, with wall to wall windows behind the desk overlooking the island. It had high ceilings, lots of space, and was pretty nicely furnished. The chair was leather. She didn't like leather. Leather seemed too, well, lifelike.

Principal Brown sighed. "Well, as you know, students have ways on checking each other's profiles, ranks, records, and such."

"Yeah." Heiwami replied, not understanding what he was getting at.

"Their wins and loses records…"

"Yeah. I know."

"Which includes their entrance fight and entrance tests, along with the randomized fight against an online opponent, and how they're ranked in the school according to the record…"

Heiwami nodded.

"Which you don't have…"

"I know that."

"And of course, people will know and of course get suspicious…"

"Mmhmm."

"So…" Principal Brown trailed off, wondering how many hints he'd have to give before she caught on.

"So?" Heiwami said.

"So…"

"So?"

Principal Brown took a breath. "You're going to have to fight someone to put it into your record."

Heiwami stared at him. They stayed like that for a while before she started laughing. "Okay okay! You had me going there! That was really funny! So what's the real reason?"

"I'm serious Heiwami."

Heiwami stared. This time her jaw dropped instead. "Aw come on! I don't even got my deck with me!"

"Asaka offered to let you borrow her other deck for the month, since you two use the same clan. You can edit the deck, but remember to put it back the way it was when you give it back." Principal Brown took out a deck from his desk and placed it on the deck, offering it to Heiwami. Heiwami stared at it.

"Can't you just put in a fake name or something? Say I fought David Bowie and lost or something. Say I got 67/100 on the test!"

"Nobody will believe that you fought David Bowie. You don't even know who David Bowie is."

"Yes I do! I saw that Kakashi kept on being called that in the Naruto YouTube spoof version, just say I vanguard fought him or something."

"Nobody will believe you fought an anime character." The principal sighed. "Especially when that's not the real David Bowie."

"He isn't? And are you sure? Some people might."

"Please, _please_, just fight someone so I can put it in your record."

Heiwami looked at him. She leaned back in the chair. She groaned.

* * *

_**Vanguard Fight!  
Taiyō no Beam karadajū ni abite  
Stand Up saa Soul Chārge shite hashire  
Vanguard Fight, Ready Go! !  
Ready Go! ! **_

_**Atarashī Generation!  
Makiokose! Revolution!  
Mirai e Navigation!  
Asu o kiri hiraite Break suru **_

_**Ike yo! Perfect janakute mo ī sa  
(Drive Check Vanguard!)  
Tobeyo! **__**Seishun no sora e **_

_**Vanguard Fight!  
Taiyō no Beam karadajū ni abite  
Stand Up saa Soul Chārge shite hashire  
Aiyaiyaiyaiyaiyaiya!**_

_**Vanguard Fight!  
Ride on the wave! Nani mo osorenaide  
Shōri no Card furikazase saa ikou  
Ayaiyaiyaiyaiyaiya!**_

_**Vanguard Fight, Ready go! !**_

* * *

"Looks like we got a good haul of first years this year, don't we Mana!" A sixteen-year old boy with messy white hair and light blue eyes, with a Dragonic Red jacket said to his friend, a girl with aquamarine colored hair to her shoulders, darker blue eyes, and a Vermillion Yellow jacket of the same age.

"Leo, you're talking about them like they're pigs for making bacon out of!" The blue-haired girl said in an annoyed tone. "See, some first years are already thinking you're weird!" She gestured at some kids, who were looking at him weirdly.

"Aw come on, I'm just saying they seem strong!" Leo whined. He waved at the kids who had thought he was weird, and then they ran into the dining hall as fast as they could.

"See, you scared them away." Mana sighed. The two second-years were sitting at a table at the front of the large, spacious dining hall of the Soul Saver Blue dorm, where the new first years were going to have their welcome dinner. The table had a sign that said 'Questions here', and they were supposed to help out any first years who didn't know what to do or where to go. So far, business was slow for them. Slow enough to make Leo seem even more annoying than he usually was. Mana was on the edge of asking for a new partner, just to get away from him for a while. Sure they were best friends, but nobody could take that much Leo at one time.

"I know a song that gets on everybody's nerves! Everybody's nerves, yes on everybody's nerves!" Leo began singing at the top of his voice. "Come on Mana, join in!"

Mana resisted the urge to collapse onto the table. On second though, it was time for a new partner.

"Leo. Shut up." She said slowly.

"I know a song that gets on everybody's nerves, and this is how it—"

"SHUT UP!"

**Ride 3: An Awkward Dinner**

"U-U-U-U-Uh…." Emil said, trying to find words. All speech had left him when he entered the Blue dorm. It had to be at _least_ ten times as big as the Dragonic Red dorm. Just the dining hall. Plus twenty times as nice, he added to his thoughts while sulking slightly. This meant the better fighters were treated better, and the worse fighters (that meant him), were treated less nice until they improved. If they improved.

"Okay then…. Now what…." He looked around to see a 'Questions' table, and decided that was probably his best bet. He walked towards it nervously. "U-Um, excuse me…"

"Do you need something?" The blue-haired girl sitting at the table looked at him and asked politely. She looked normal enough, except for the fact that she seemed to be strangling her companion, a white-haired guy from the same dorm as him.

"U-Uh, d-does he have enough air?!" He squeaked.

The girl looked at the guy she was strangling. She let him go. "Oh, I dunno. He never seems to run out of air to bug others with."

"Oh come on Mana! You didn't let me finish my song!" The guy protested.

"Nobody wants to hear it!"

"Heeeeeeeey, it's a dude!" Leo stood up, walked around the table, and put an arm around Emil's shoulders in a friendly fashion. Emil just squeaked in response. "So dude, what's up? We're from the same dorm! We're homies!"

"Nobody uses stupid words like that Leo." Mana said.

"Well I do!"

Mana sighed. She took out a device which Emil recognized as the device they had all received when they had reached their dorms and pointed it at Emil. Then she read something on the screen, and then looked back at Emil. "So, Emil Walker, what do you need?"

Emil jumped. "H-How do you know my name?"

"Don't you know?" Mana held up the device. "These VA-Trackers tell us the data on anyone we meet. See?" She showed Emil the screen. It had a photo of him, along with his name, dorm, deck clan, credentials, rank in his dorm, rank in his year, and rank in total. Sad to say, he was near the bottom.

"O-Oh… that's what these are for…" Emil took out his. He looked at Mana. "So, can I try?"

"Well duh man!" Leo piped up before Mana could reply. Emil pressed the button on the VA-Tracker, pointed it at Leo, and out popped the data.

"Leo Seth… Nova Grapplers" He mumbled, then turned to Mana, "and Mana Hydral… Oracle Think Tanks... you two are second years…"

"Well, we are running the questions booth." Mana said. Now Emil felt a bit silly.

"O-Okay, s-so, where do I go then…" He asked.

"Well, you go inside the place to begin with!" Leo said. "Then just sit down in a place that seems friendly and wait! Eventually the overlord-slash-principal'll get there, say some welcoming words again, and then you guys get access to the buffet! It's really tasty! Plus since you're in Red, this is one of the rare times where you get access to good food!"

"Oh… okay… thanks…" Emil said and looked around the room again. He might as well sit with some people in his dorm, so he sat by some guys at a table near the corner, with many boys in Red looking as nervous as he did.

"Have fun Banana-head!" Leo yelled after him, making many head look at him and him getting very embarrassed, covering his hair. It wasn't his fault his bangs at the front stuck up! It didn't look like a banana that much….did it?

"Tough luck man." A guy said next to him, pointing at some Vermillion Yellow girls who were snickering at him. "Looks like you aren't getting a girlfriend here anytime soon."

Emil hung his head even further. Why…. Why always him…

"My name's Rean. Nice to meet you." The Red said, sticking out his hand.

"E-Emil Walker… Nice to meet you I guess…" Emil said.

"But still, you might want to watch your way around girls." Rean said. "They are tricky creatures. You'll probably just wanna lay low for a while until Bananahead thing blows over. Well, if."

The head dropped again. "It's not going to blow over…" Emil mumbled, silently crying to himself.

_**-linebreak-**_

Kouichi sat next to a bunch of Vermillion Yellows, now wearing the same jacket as them. The day had gone pretty well for him, since his ranking wasn't particularly bad. It wasn't good enough to get recognized but that didn't matter too much. The dorm was nice, the people were okay, it was a pretty good place overall. The only thing that honestly still bothered him was that weird appearance of a card yesterday. It made no sense, and he could not find any possible way for it to make sense. But there had to be something. Stuff like that just didn't happen!

"When are they gonna start, I'm hungry already!" He heard a boy next to him say. The first years were all around the same age, fifteen. He was no exception.

"I think they'll be starting soon." Kouichi replied.

"Oh that's good! Cause I…" Kouichi lost interest in the conversation, looking around the room with bored eyes. The Blues all looked confident in themselves and happy with what they had achieved and earned. The Yellows looked content with what they had, although some were jealous of the Blues. Average really. They guys around him weren't that interesting, just bragging about how they did at the entrances and saying it wasn't fair how they didn't get Blue. He didn't like the topic, but there were only two Yellow tables, and he certainly wasn't about to go to the other table full of _girls_, who were giggling and talking like there was no tomorrow. Who knew what went on in a girls head? Their mouths never seemed to really stop working.

The Reds were all quite nervous. Probably since they had gotten the lowest rank. They were all huddled together at their table. All guys, surprisingly. The majority of Vanguard was played by boys though. They talked quietly and were getting along, but they were all trying to not show how scared they were of this big place, and they were doing a terrible job of it. Kouichi swore he saw one boy wet his pants slightly. It could have been the light or the sweat though. Nope it was the nerves. The boy just ran to the bathroom.

Dragonic Reds were weird. And slightly pathetic. All except…

He squinted to see someone sitting in the corner, staring out the window. It was that weird dark-haired girl from on top of the plane from before! The girl who fire had randomly appeared around! She was sitting there, and had just about the same expression as he did, except she was looking out a window, apparently not bothered about all the people. She had on the Dragonic Red jacket tied around her waist instead of wearing it like everyone else was, with a red t-shirt and bandages wrapped all around her arms. He remembered they were bleeding yesterday. The weird girl…

Kouichi took out his VA-Tracker, and pointed it at her. The teachers at the Vermillion Yellow dorm had told everyone how to use it when they received it. He pressed the button, and a profile appeared on the screen.

"What the…" He stared at it. The profile had a picture of her, along with a name, Heiwami Soratsuki. Every other information that was supposed to appear had the words CONFIDENTIAL over them.

"Hey dude, what's up?" Another guy said next to him. He leaned over to look at Kouichi's VA-Tracker. "What's wrong with your thing?"

"I don't know. Maybe a malfunction?" Kouichi said.

"Lemme try." The guy used his VA-Tracker to look her up, but his screen had the same thing as Kouichi's on it. "Weird." He pointed it a Kouichi, and Kouichi's information popped up like normal.

"So it just doesn't work on her?" He said.

"I guess…" Kouichi said, trailing off again to look at Heiwami. Strange girl.

"Oh I am so telling everyone about this!" Another guy said.

_**-linebreak-**_

"Hey Rei! Did you hear?"

"There's that rumor going around about this Malfunction Girl!"

"It's so weird!"

"Malfunction Girl?" Rei asked the girls sitting next to her at the Soul Saver Blue table. She was now wearing the Soul Saver Blue jacket and a matching blue skirt, and had a harem of girls around her. Somehow, she had gotten popular pretty quickly. Now girls (and some guys) were following her around almost everywhere. It's not that she didn't appreciate it, it's just that she found it slightly strange. But still, they were nice girls. "What's that?"

"That's what people are calling her, since whenever anyone tries to check up her profile, all that comes up is 'Confidential!' for some reason! It's so weird!" Another girl explained.

"See, it's that girl over there!" The first girl pointed to Heiwami staring blankly out the window in the corner. "This is her profile!" Her VA-Tracker showed the usual results for her, with the words CONFIDENTIAL everywhere.

"Weird…" Rei looked at her. It was that girl from the auditions who had told her about where to go. She didn't seem that weird before.

"Attention, attention!" At the head table at the front of the dining hall, Principal Brown stood up and said. All of the students stopped talking and looked towards him.

"Welcome to Vanguard Academy. I hope you will enjoy your years here and learn many things. The goal of this academy is to teach our students how to be successful in Vanguard as they grow up. There are many things going around the academy, and I encourage you to get involved in many activities. You never know what could happen later on in life. But for now, let's enjoy the feast!"

Chefs began wheeling in huge trolleys full of food for students to eat. Students stood up to get plates of food, go back to their tables, and talk with their new dorm mates. It seemed to be a good enough atmosphere.

"Hey look, the Malfunction Girl's sitting by herself in the corner!" Rei heard one of the girls snicker.

"Didn't you notice? She's like, the _only_ Dragonic Red who's a girl!"

"I heard they weren't even allowed to put girls in the Red dorm because of the bad living conditions! She was that bad at the entrances!"

"That's probably why her record's confidential!"

"Yeah yeah! That totally makes sense!"

Rei looked at the girls around her, then at Heiwami sitting in the corner, not eating and staring off into space. It was a bit sad. She got up and walked over to her.

"R-Rei! Where are you going?" She heard girls yell behind her.

"I'm sorry. I'll be back soon!" Rei said back to them. She arrived at Heiwami's table in the corner. "Hi."

Heiwami yawned. She looked at Rei. "Oh. Hi."

The two girls had an awkward silence as they looked at each other, each wondering if the other was going to say something more.

"Aren't you hungry? Do you want some salad? They're really good." Rei finally said and pointed to the nearest trolley, which had different types of salad in it.

"Nah. Allergic to peanuts." Heiwami mumbled. She yawned again.

"Well, there are other types of food here. After all, this is a—"

"Don't you have to get back to those Blue's now?" Heiwami interrupted, startling Rei. The sleepy tone was suddenly gone from her voice, and the sudden change was, well, startling. "After, people hang out with their dorm, and you'd sure be happier over there than here in a little corner. I'm a Red. People ignore Reds. You're supposed to ignore me and pretend I'm not there just like all the others."

"W-What?" Rei took a step back. "W-Well, you're sitting by yourself here… so I assumed—"

"Assume, assume. That's all you do, isn't it. Miss Anakisa, there's more to life than assuming."

Rei took another step back as Heiwami stood up and looked her in the eye seriously.

"You assume because I'm alone here that I'm lonely. Everyone assumes that because I happen to have the Dragonic Red jacket that I'm a bad fighter. Tell me something, Miss Anakisa. I'm not stupid like most of the other students. I know what your last name signifies. So now assume something, Miss Anakisa. Does it _really _seem like I need pity from you? I don't need anything from someone like you."

Rei stared at her. The girls in Blue from before rushed over to her and glared angrily at Heiwami.

"What do you think you're doing?!"

"Yeah!"

Heiwami looked at the girls sleepily, then looked away and breathed out. "More annoyances have appeared…" She mumbled.

"You're the only one annoying us here!" Another girl yelled.

"What is going on here?" A new voice said as a female with black hair tied up in two pigtails by pink ribbons and a Soul Saver Blue jacket and skirt. "Don't make a big fuss on the first few days you get here."

"Who are you?" One of the girls snapped, making the new girl's eyes narrow.

"My name is Kazumi Efilstine. Senior student, member of the student council, and third best fighter in this entire school." Kazumi said coldly.

"T-Third best?!" Now some kids around them were listening to the conversation now.

"M-Miss Kazumi! This girl is bothering us!" One of the girls pointed at Heiwami, who had lost interest and was looking out the window again.

"Can I go now?" Heiwami finally said to Kazumi. "This is making no sense."

"Not yet." Kazumi said. "I need to figure out what has gone on here, and then deal the appropriate punishments for fooling around and causing a crowd during the welcome dinners."

Heiwami groaned. "More annoyances. This isn't getting anywhere."

Kazumi glared at her. "Well at least I am trying to calm this problem logically."

"Screw logic. I just wanna take a nap. Being a senior doesn't mean you can boss people around."

"Apparently you don't know who you are talking to."

"Same to you ya know."

The two girls looked at each other as calmly as they could.

"What did you say to me? You think you have more authority than me?" Kazumi asked.

"I never said that. You just happen to be annoying me." Heiwami retorted.

"Your annoyances are none of my concern."

"They should if you're the cause of it."

Some people could swear they saw lightning flash between their eyes. The fact that their voices were both calm just made it scarier.

"You need to be taught a lesson in respect for your elders."

"You need to be taught a lesson in not interrupting things that don't concern you."

"Everything on this island concerns me!"

"Respect needs to be earned!"

Now the lightning had turned into fire, and some boys inched away from them as best as they could. Nobody could get between arguing girls who got angry with each other.

"So how are we gonna settle this?" Heiwami asked, crossing her arms.

"We are at Vanguard Academy, so let's settle things like the school's name." Kazumi replied, also crossing her arms.

"You. Are. So. On." Heiwami said.

Rei looked back and forth between the two, wondering if she should have said anything. She sighed. Great, now a fight had started and it was all her fault. It's been a nice dinner. A _real _nice welcome dinner…

_**-linebreak-**_

"Hey Principal! Seems like there's a fight starting over there!" One of the senior students sitting at the head table said to the principal.

"There is? We need to use the vanguard arena and detention room already?" Principal Brown said. He looked in the direction of the where the ruckus was coming from, and spit out the chicken he just put in his mouth.

"It seems to be a fight between Kazumi-san and a new girl. People are calling her the Malfunction Girl since nobody's been able to search up her record on the VA-Trackers." Another senior said. "All that comes up is Confidential."

"K-Kazumi's gonna fight…" Another senior said. He had shoulder-length silver hair, green eyes, and the Soul Saver Blue boy's outfit. "I'll probably have to hide for a while then."

"Vayle, please go watch over the fight and make sure things don't get out of hand." The principal said.

"What?! But you know how Kazumi is—"

"Just go." Principal Brown sighed. The silver-haired boy made a face, then stood up.

"Save me some pork." He muttered before walking over to the feuding girls.

Principal Brown looked at where the chaos was coming from and resisted the urge to put his head on the desk. That was unbecoming of the principal, but it was very tempting. He had told Heiwami to _stay out of trouble_ and _not attract attention from too many people_. This was not anywhere near those lines. That girl really needed her hearing checked. And her attention span.

_**-linebreak-**_

"Why can't we go back to the food?" One of the Red's said.

"Because we have to see this match! Between the third best fighter in the school and the newbie, as well as only Dragonic Red girl, the Malfunction Girl!" Another Red said.

"U-Uh, do we r-really have to?" Emil asked quietly.

"Yes!"

"This is probably gonna be really one-sided!"

Emil didn't say anything else after that. He still felt uncomfortable about the entire thing. But at least there had been no violence. It would have been even worse if there was violence. If there was anything he had learned from being a wimp all those years, it was that when girls got mad at each other, it was time to run and hide.

"Hey," He heard a voice say. Then a Blue with silver hair suddenly sat up behind them, rubbing his head, making all of the Red's jump in shock, "this is the place..."

"W-Where did you come from?!" Emil squeaked. The Blue looked at him.

"Oh, hi. My name's Vayle. Gotta oversee this match. If I accidentally fall asleep, could you wake me up?" He asked. Emil nodded cautiously. "Thanks!"

Emil turned back around to the motion figure system and internally sighed. This academy was nuts.

_**-linebreak-**_

"Stand up, Vanguard!" Kazumi yelled. "Kage Initiate, Abysus!"

"Stand up, the Vanguard!" Heiwami yelled. "Girl Who Crossed the Gap!"

_Lightning flashed overhead Cray as two lights, one dark blue, and one purple, glowed across from each other on a battlefield. On one side formed a boy in dark ninja clothing and holding a small dagger from the blue light. He was transformed into a girl by Kazumi's image, and gained her hair as well her angry expression. _**[Kage Initiate, Abysus – 5000]**

_On the other side, from the purple light, appeared a small girl with light blue hair in a flowing ponytail at the back. She had a black bodice, with a skirt of feathers and red and black tails from the back, as well as black shoes and matching gloves. Her hair turned black as Heiwami inhabited her. _**[Girl Who Crossed the Gap – 5000]**

"I usually don't fight unless the school needs it, but this is a special occasion." Kazumi said. "Draw! I ride Kage Apprentice, Abysus!"

_ Kazumi's Vanguard glowed in dark blue light as he grew taller, with more stylized ninja clothing. He held a katana sword, and a red ribbon around his waist. _**[Kage Apprentice, Abysus – 6000]**

"Since there's Kage Initiate in the soul, he gains 2000 more continuous power! Initiate's skill. I can add Kage Samurai to my hand." Kazumi said. "End."

"Well then, first act, start. Draw." Heiwami said. "Let's begin, Midnight Bunny! Girl moves to the rearguard."

_The petite girl waved before being enveloped in purple light, and from the light emerged a girl dressed completely in fluffy pink bunny clothing, with a small red bodice and a little dark blue top hat on her head. She smiled, jumping happily in place as the girl from before reappeared behind her. _**[Midnight Bunny – 7000]**

"Darkmetal Bicorn, enter as well." Heiwami said. _A dark beast burst from purple flames next to the bunny. _**[Darkmetal Bicorn – 8000] **"Darkmetal Bicorn, attack Abysus!"

_ The beast charged forwards and bit the ninja on the arm._

**[Damage Check –Stealth Fiend, Midnight Crow – No Trigger]**

"Midnight Bunny!" **[7000 + 5000 = 12000]**

_Midnight Bunny smiled in happiness as she glowed with the boost from the girl behind her, then jumped forwards and punched the apprentice, who fell back, holding his side._

**[Drive Check – Dancing Princess of the Night Sky – No Trigger]**

**[Damage Check – Stealth Beast, Bloody Mist – No Trigger]**

"First act, end." Heiwami spoke.

**Heiwami – Kazumi**

**5 – Hand – 6**

**0 – Soul – 1**

**0 – Damage – 2**

**0 – Counterblasted – 0**

**Field:**

**none – Darkmetal Bicorn - - - - none – none**

**Girl Who Crossed the Gap – Midnight Bunny - - - - Kage Apprentice, Abysus – none**

**none – none - - - - none – none**

"I stand and draw." Kazumi said. "I ride Kage Samurai, Abysus!"

_The ninja glowed in dark blue light as it grew taller. He now wore a samurai's helmet along with a longer sword and sheath, with the same ninja clothing as before. _**[Kage Samurai, Abysus – 9000]**

"1000 more continuous power to him since Kage Apprentice is in the soul." Kazumi said. "I call Kage Apprentice, Right Arrester, and Left Arrester."

_ The samurai's previous form appeared, along with two beast-men wielding chains and wearing ninja clothing._** [Kage Apprentice, Abysus – 6000] [Right Arrester – 8000] [Left Arrester – 8000]**

"Kage Apprentice's skill. I drop Mandala Lord to add Kage Warlord, Abysus to my hand." Kazumi said, revealing the card before shuffling her deck. "Left Arrester attacks Midnight Bunny!" **[8000 + 3000 = 11000]**

_The tiger threw his chain at the pink bunny , striking her on the arm and crying out in pain._

**[Damage Check – Midnight Invader – No Trigger]**

"Kage Samurai, Abysus attacks!" **[10000]**

"Dynamite Juggler guards!" Heiwami said. **[7000 + 10000 = 17000]**

"Drive check."

**[Drive Check – Central Arrester – No Trigger]**

"Right Arrester attacks with Apprentice's boost! Right Arrester's skill. 3000 more power." **[8000 + 6000 + 3000 = 17000]**

**[Damage Check – Sky High Walker – Stand Trigger]**

"I end my turn now." Kazumi said.

**Heiwami – Kazumi**

**4 – Hand – 4**

**0 – Soul – 2**

**2 – Damage – 2**

**0 – Counterblasted – 0**

**Field:**

**none – Darkmetal Bicorn - - - - Right Arrester – Kage Apprentice, Abysus**

**Girl Who Crossed the Gap – Midnight Bunny - - - - Kage Samurai, Abysus – none**

**none – none - - - - Left Arrester – none**

"Second act, start." Heiwami said, drawing her card. "Ride the Vanguard! Dancing Princess of the Night Sky!"

_Midnight Bunny gave one last pose before being swallowed in purple light, and a long blond woman with hair in pigtails reappeared in her place. She wore a tight, orange and purple trapezist's outfit with pink and purple markings on her face. There was a small black and purple top hat on her head, decorated with roses. She gave a backflip, smiling seductively. _**[Dancing Princess of the Night Sky – 8000]**

"Dancing Princess's trick. I counterblast." Heiwami said, fanning out her deck and placing a card in her soul.

**[Soul Charge – Jumping Jill – 6000]**

"Barking Cerberus, Skull Juggler, enter the stage." _ A large three-headed dog jumped onto the field dressed in a circus collar of red, yellow, and blue. Behind it appeared a small demon, juggling three skulls._ "Skull Juggler's solo act." Heiwami said as Skull Juggler did a small performance while juggling his skulls.

**[Soul Charge – Purple Trapezist – No Trigger]**

"Darkmetal Bicorn attacks Right Arrester."

"Stealth Beast, Cat Rouge guards."

_The dark beast charged forwards, and collided with a bandit cat instead of its desired target. Annoyed, it went back to its side._

"Dancing Princess, swing towards Samurai Abysus! Girl Who Crossed the Gap helps out."

_The Trapezist held out her hand towards the sky, and a trapeze dropped down from it. She swung on it as it lifted her into the air, and she swung across the battlefield, kicking the ninja in the face._ **[8000 + 5000 = 13000]**

**[Drive Check – Dancing Princess of the Night Sky – No Trigger]**

**[Damage Check – Silent Stealth Rogue, Shijimamaru – No Trigger]**

"Barking Cerberus attacks Right Arrester! Skull Juggler helps out." **[10000 + 7000 = 17000]**

"No guard."

_ The three-headed dog barked and jumped forwards, tearing at the side of the tiger and making it disappear._

"Second act, end."

**Heiwami – Kazumi**

**3 – Hand – 3**

**3 – Soul – 2**

**2 – Damage – 3**

**1 – Counterblasted – 0**

**Field:**

**none – Darkmetal Bicorn - - - - none – Kage Apprentice, Abysus**

**Girl Who Crossed the Gap – Dancing Princess of the Night Sky - - - - Kage Samurai, Abysus – none**

**Skull Juggler – Barking Cerberus - - - - Left Arrester – none**

"Stand and draw." Kazumi said. She took a card from her hand and began to hold it in the air, then stopped when there was a thump, followed by a loud shout from the stands. "This voice…" She looked at the stands, her eyesight immediately zooming in on the silver-haired Blue rubbing his head as he rose from the seats he had just been sleeping on. "I knew it…"

The boy noticed Kazumi staring at him and froze. He waved nervously. "Uh, hey Kazumi! Nice fight!"

"Vayle!" Kazumi suddenly squealed, extremely unlike what she was like a few seconds ago. "I knew it! You came to cheer me on didn't you!"

"Um…I actually came because Principal wanted me to watch over this—"

"Just stay right there and watch me beat this nobody Red!" Kazumi waved furiously at him happily as fast as her arms would let her. "I'll be over as soon as I can!"

"Uh, I, um…" Vayle collapsed into his seat. "Oh forget it. I'm doomed."

Heiwami sighed. "Oh great. A fangirl."

"I'm going to beat you now and you'll be sorry for getting on my nerves!" Kazumi said, turning her attention back to her opponent. "Master of bushido and ninjitsu. I summon thee as my vassal! I ride Kage Warlord, Abysus!"

_The black ninja disappeared in a puff of smoke as the field glowed in dark blue light. In his place, a man in dark ninja clothing and a gold warlord helmet with gold plated armor over the cloth and two silver swords. _**[Kage Warlord, Abysus – 10000]**

"Since I have Kage Samurai Abysus in the soul, he gets a continuous 1000 power! Left Arrester attacks Dancing Princess of the Night Sky!" **[8000]**

"Whoops I guarded." Heiwami said, tossing a card onto the guardian circle. "Another Dancing Princess."

"Kage Warlord attacks Dancing Princess of the Night Sky!" Kazumi yelled. **[11000]**

"Whatever." Heiwami shrugged.

**[Drive Check – Central Arrester – No Trigger]**

**[Drive Check – Stealth Beast, Bloody Mist – No Trigger]**

**[Damage Check – Silver Thorn Dragon Tamer, Luquier – No Trigger]**

"I end my turn." Kazumi said. "Now we're even."

**Heiwami – Kazumi**

**3 – Hand – 5**

**3 – Soul – 3**

**3 – Damage – 3**

**1 – Counterblasted – 0**

**Field:**

**none – Darkmetal Bicorn - - - - none – Kage Apprentice, Abysus**

**Girl Who Crossed the Gap – Dancing Princess of the Night Sky - - - - Kage Warlord, Abysus – none**

**Skull Juggler – Barking Cerberus - - - - Left Arrester – none**

"Let's start the third act of the circus now." Heiwami said, drawing her card. She smirked. "The beautiful melody of the night, listen to it if you dare. Of course, it's not like you have a choice. Ride the Vanguard! Starlight Melody Tamer, Farah!"

_The Trapezist gave a salute before glowing in dark purple light. Musical notes danced around the field as from the light emerged a blue-haired woman with pink-and-blue wings instead of arms. She had pink and purple clothing, with a skirt made out of dark-purple petals. The purple musical notes swirled around her as she flapped her wings and hovered above the ground. _**[Starlight Melody Tamer, Farah – 11000]**

"Darkmetal Bicorn moves back. Girl Who Crossed the Gap's skill. Switch acts."

_ The dark beast jumped back as the little girl signalled it to. The little girl then smiled and disappeared, and in front of the beast appeared the blond Trapezist from before. _**[Dancing Princess of the Night Sky – 8000]**

"Once again, Dancing Princess of the Night Sky's counterblast. I soulcharge." Heiwami continued.

**[Soul Charge – Purple Trapezist – No Trigger]**

"Darkmetal boosts, Princess attacks Kage Warlord!" **[8000 + 8000 = 16000]**

"No guard."

_ The Trapezist held her hand out and a trapeze dropped down from the sky once again. She swung on it, flipping in the air before kicking the warlord in the stomach._

**[Damage Check – Kage Samurai, Abysus – No Trigger]**

"Farah attacks Kage Warlord." Heiwami said, her eyes narrowing. **[11000]**

"Bloody Mist guards. Left Arrester intercepts."

"Drive check."

**[Drive Check – Starlight Melody Tamer, Farah – No Trigger]**

**[Drive Check – Popcorn Boy – Heal Trigger]**

"Heal trigger. Power to Barking Cerberus. No healing today."

_ The birdwoman flew into the air towards the warlord, but two tiger creatures appeared in her path, making her fly back to her side of the field._

"Skull Juggler boosts, Barking Cerberus attacks Kage Warlord!" **[10000 + 7000 + 5000 = 22000]**

"No guard!"

_The three-headed dog head-butted the ninja on the side, pushing him back a few meters before running back to its master._

**[Damage Check – Stealth Beast, Million Rat – No Trigger]**

"Third act, end." Heiwami said. "But don't worry. We're not over yet." She smiled with contempt at Kazumi. "Not until you reach six damage, that is."

**Heiwami – Kazumi**

**5 – Hand – 4**

**5 – Soul – 3**

**3 – Damage – 5**

**3 – Counterblasted – 0**

**Field:**

**Darkmetal Bicorn – Dancing Princess of the Night Sky - - - - none – Kage Apprentice, Abysus**

**none– Starlight Melody Tamer, Farah - - - - Kage Warlord, Abysus – none**

**Skull Juggler – Barking Cerberus - - - - none – none**

"S-She…" Emil stared at the match.

"She's basically got the third best fighter in the school cornered!" Rean said. "And she's a Red like us…"

"It's not that Kazumi's weak." Vayle said from behind them, watching the match and looking at Heiwami, who had her arms crossed and was looking at Kazumi with that look of contempt. "It's just that girl… what's up with her?"

Vayle thought about it, then decided, what the heck. "Hey Malfunction Girl!" He yelled. "I usually don't compliment anyone cause I'm too lazy to, but although Kazumi's not admitting it, you got her on the ropes!"

"Do you have no confidence in me Vayle?!" Kazumi retorted.

"I'm your friend, just friend, and I believe in you. But that doesn't really change who I want to win this match. And honestly…. it might do a little good for your ego if you lose." Vayle admitted.

"What?!" Kazumi glared at Heiwami. "You think that I would, you, her, UGH! Whatever!"

Heiwami looked at her with what might have been pity. "Um, are you going to continue or just keep arguing with the guy you wish was your boyfriend?" She asked.

"I have a better chance than you!" Kazumi yelled. "There's no way you'll ever beat me in love!"

"That's… not what I meant..." Heiwami mumbled to herself. "I'm not even really sure what love is…"

"Kazumi calm down! I don't like her in that way." Vayle called.

"Oh so you like her in another way!" Kazumi gasped, then glared like crazy at Heiwami, who still had a weirded-out look on her face. "Fine! I don't care!"

_ It's so obvious you care…_ Heiwami looked at Kazumi, who tore the top card off of her deck angrily, and sighed.

_So Vayle likes those kind of of ruffian girls? I'll show him how weak she really is!_ "Stand and draw!" Kazumi yelled. "Kage Warlord, Abysus. Limit Break!"

She flipped over two cards in her damage zone. "He gets 3000 power! I call Central Arrester and Stealth Fiend, Midnight Crow! Midnight Crow's counterblast. I call another Midnight Crow from my deck!"

_A tiger holding two chains between his hands appeared behind the warlord, with two half-human half-crow ninjas appearing to his side in a puff of smoke. _**[Central Arrester – 6000] [Stealth Fiend, Midnight Crow – 8000]**

"Midnight Crow attacks Dancing Princess of the Night Sky!" **[8000]**

_The crow-man flew forwards and slashed at the girl's side, who screamed and disappeared._

"My other Midnight Crow attacks Farah with Kage Apprentice boosting!" **[8000 + 6000 = 14000]**

"Cerberus. Take care of this."

_The other crow-man leapt forwards towards the bird-woman, but the three-headed circus beast jumped in his path to take the attack instead._

"Kage Warlord attacks Farah with Central Arrester boosting!" Kazumi yelled. "He gets another 3000 power because of Central Arrester's skill!" **[11000 + 6000 + 3000 + 3000 = 22000]**

"No guard."

"Drive check."

**[Drive Check – Silent Stealth Rogue, Shijimamaru – No Trigger]**

**[Drive Check – Stealth Fiend, Dart Spider – Stand Trigger]**

"Stand trigger! Power to Kage Apprentice who stands!"

"Damage check." Heiwami absentmindedly tossed the card into her damage zone.

**[Damage Check – Mirror Demon – No Trigger]**

_ The shadow warlord charged forwards and sliced the bird-woman right down the middle, sending her flying back into the air before she regained her balance._

Kazumi smiled. "If you knew about Kage Warlord's effect, you would have guarded. You've just fallen right into my trap! When Kage Warlord's attack hits a vanguard, I send two of my rearguards into my deck and call two new ones! My two Midnight Crow's shall go, and I superior call Left Arrester and Right Arrester!"

_The two ninjas disappeared, and in their place appeared two new ninjas, ready to fight. _**[Left Arrester – 8000] [Right Arrester – 8000]**

"Right Arrester attacks with a boost from Kage Apprentice! Right Arrester's skill gives him 3000 more power!" **[8000 + 6000 + 3000 + 5000 = 22000]**

Heiwami looked at her, a small smile on her face. "I wonder who's the one falling into the trap here."

**[Damage Check – Hades Hypnotist – No Trigger]**

"Left Arrester attacks Farah! Left Arrester's skill! 3000 more power!" **[8000 + 3000 = 11000]**

"Midnight Bunny. Guard."

_ The pink bunny girl appeared in the ninja's way, surprising him and making him jump back. Behind her, Farah smiled._

"Left and Right Arrester get shuffled back into my deck. I end my turn." Kazumi said. "Now we're both at five damage! What are you going to do about it?!"

"What am I going to do?" Heiwami repeated. She sighed. "I'm going to win now. Isn't that obvious? After all, this is the final act of my circus for tonight."

**Heiwami – Kazumi**

**4 – Hand – 4**

**5 – Soul – 3**

**5 – Damage – 5**

**3 – Counterblasted – 3**

**Field:**

**Darkmetal Bicorn – none - - - - none – Kage Apprentice, Abysus**

**none– Starlight Melody Tamer, Farah - - - - Kage Warlord, Abysus – Central Arrester**

**Skull Juggler – none - - - - none – none**

"W-What?!"

"Did she just announce a Final Turn?!"

"Seriously?" Rei said to herself from the section where the Blues were sitting. "She's going to finish it there?"

"Stand and draw." Heiwami said, saying the regular phrase for the first time all fight. "Calling Mirror Demon, Sky High Walker."

_A demon with his lower body inside a mirror appeared, with another smaller one crashing into the ground head-first. _**[Mirror Demon – 8000] [Sky-High Walker – 4000]**

"Sky High Walker moves to the soul. I unflip one damage." The damage unflipped itself.

"Now, the musical notes of darkness shall dance throughout the stage, this is the melody announcing the end of the battle. Farah's Persona Blast!" Heiwami said, taking two cards from her hand and showing them. "Times two."

The two copies of Farah fell into the drop zone, and two damage in her damage zone flipped over.

"I soulcharge four cards."

**[Soul Charge – Rainbow Magician – Draw Trigger]**

**[Soul Charge – Skull Juggler – No Trigger]**

**[Soul Charge – Darkmetal Bicorn – No Trigger]**

**[Soul Charge – Sky High Walker – Stand Trigger]**

"Superior call. Midnight Bunny. Jumping Jill. They both get 3000 more power." Heiwami said.

_The pink bunny-woman hopped back behind Farah in happiness, and a girl with long green hair in a ponytail, and springs for legs, bounced beside her, the two laughing together. _**[Midnight Bunny – 7000] [Jumping Jill – 9000]**

"Mirror Demon attacks Warlord. Darkmetal Bicorn's boost." **[8000 + 8000 = 16000]**

"Stealth Beast, Moon Edge guards!"

"With Bunny's boost, Starlight Melody Tamer Farah attacks Warlord!" **[11000 + 7000 + 3000 = 21000]**

"Stealth Beast, Leaves Mirage guards! I drop one card from my hand for perfect defense!" Kazumi yelled.

_Farah flew forwards, but before she collided with the warlord, a wolf dressed in black appeared in her path. The wind blew, and a storm of leaves blocked her vision, so she flew back. The leaves disappeared along with the wolf._

"Drive check."

**[Drive Check – Barking Cerberus – No Trigger]**

**[Drive Check – Sky High Walker – Stand Trigger]**

"Oh look at that! A stand trigger." Heiwami said as the card flashed blue. "I'll stand Mirror Demon and give him the power. Now Skull Juggler boosts, Jumping Jill. Since Jumping Jill was called from the soul, she gains another 3000 power by herself!" **[9000 + 7000 + 3000 + 3000 = 22000] **

"What?!" Kazumi yelled. She looked at the last card in her hand in frustration. Dart Spider, with 10000 shield. Just not enough. Right over her line. "No guard…"

_The green-haired girl yelled happily as she bounced into the air with her spring legs. She fell from the sky like a rocket and kicked the warlord back right in the head._

"Damage check…"

**[Damage Check – Stealth Beast, Cat Rogue – Draw Trigger]**

"Draw trigger?" Kazumi cringed.

_The warlord yelled in pain as he began to disintegrate in blue light, the motion figure dissolving around the two girls._

**Heiwami – Kazumi**

**4 – Hand – 1**

**7 – Soul – 3**

**5 – Damage – 6**

**5 – Counterblasted – 3**

**Field:**

**Darkmetal Bicorn – Mirror Demon - - - - none – Kage Apprentice, Abysus**

**Midnight Bunny– Starlight Melody Tamer, Farah - - - - Kage Warlord, Abysus – Central Arrester**

**Skull Juggler – Jumping Jill - - - - none – none**

"Well, that was nice." Heiwami said, cleaning up the deck. "I'm good. Now can I go?"

Kazumi didn't answer, still staring down at her cards in shock.

"If you aren't gonna answer," Heiwami shrugged and began to walk away.

"She won, just like that." Rean said. Emil nodded.

"It seemed, so, easy…" He mumbled.

"She did more than just that." The two Reds turned their heads to see Vayle, this time his face completely serious, speak. "Planning out Farah's Persona Blast, soul charging right from the beginning those cards, letting Kazumi use Kage Warlord's Limit Break to set up for her own strategy, taking advantage of the powerups to the exact point where Kazumi wouldn't have been able to guard at all, she practically controlled it from the beginning. Even if Kazumi knew about Jumping Jill's last power up, she would have had to let either Mirror Demon's attack or Midnight Bunny's boost through, letting that girl superior call another card from her soul. It wouldn't have been enough."

"Y-You mean…" Emil stuttered.

"She had planned that entire strategy from the very beginning." Vayle finished. He stood up. "Well, I guess I report back to the Overlord then. See you guys around, maybe." He walked away, yawning. "Time for a nice nap." He muttered to himself.

_**-linebreak-**_

Kouichi ran down from the stands towards Heiwami as she began to walk out of the arena. He needed answers. He grabbed her shoulder, making her turn around, looking at him with an annoyed expression.

"You probably know something." Kouichi said, straightening up. He tried not to twitch. There was something weird about her brown eyes. "I want answers. Why was there a card attacking the plane? Why are you in Red? I need to know."

Heiwami looked at him with unmoving eyes. She reached her hand out, and Kouichi instinctively flinched. Then he felt a hand touch him on the head.

They stood there, with Heiwami patting him on the head. W….What?

"Your hair…." She finally said, looking at him with a curious expression.

"M-My hair?" He said, not believing what he was hearing.

"Yeah… It's a bit like Kamui's…" Heiwami mused.

"K-Kamui? As in Kamui Katsuragi?!" Kouichi stuttered.

Heiwami patted him on the head again. "Nah, yours is only spiky in the front. His is spiky all over. Plus your hair isn't as tall as his."

"Why are you talking about my hair!" Kouichi shouted.

Heiwami stopped patting him, then cocked her head. "I dunno." She answered. "Your hair just looks like his." Then she began walking away.

"Wait!" Kouichi yelled. "You didn't tell me anything important! And what was that?!" Heiwami wasn't stopping, so Kouichi continued. "You, well, your hair's uneven at the back!"

Heiwami stopped and looked back at him. "Why would you talk about my hair? Isn't that a weird thing to talk about in the first meeting?" She laughed, leaving Kouichi unable to do anything other than gape as she left the arena. H-Huh?

"Y-You're the one who talked about my hair first!" He finally yelled, although she had already left. "Seriously, what was that?!"

* * *

_Dear Tayuya,_

_ It's been a bit of a hectic day, getting settled into our dorms, then had a welcome dinner. The food was pretty good and the Soul Saver Blue dorm was CRAZY fancy! But honestly the main event of the entire dinner was this fight that happened between the newly established Malfunction Girl and the third best fighter in the entire school, Kazumi Efilstine I think._

_ The Malfunction Girl is the same girl from before, the weird girl who I saw on top of the plane on the ride to Vanguard Academy. Apparently her name's Heiwami Soratsuki, and she's very weird. She comments on my hair, finds it weird when I do that to her, and it seems like her head's in the clouds almost every minute of the day. Really weird._

_ But the thing is, that girl Heiwami, she actually beat Kazumi, the third best fighter! It was a pretty close fight, but she somehow won! I don't know how or why, but I overheard the supposed-second best fighter in the school talk with some Reds, and apparently she's really good. I didn't really understand what he was talking about though. Something about strategy._

_ I still have no idea about what happened yesterday about the card, but you can bet your deck that I'm going to find out what's up. I will find out. I gotta find out. This is too weird to make sense. There's something weird going on here, with the weird girl and the cards coming to life. Of course, I could be just imagining things again. We used to do that all the time when we were kids._

_ Well, tomorrow official classes start, meaning school again. Even if it's Vanguard Academy, we still got regular classes like Math and Science, probably so we won't be left behind later in life. I could honestly do without the math, but still, apparently we have to. At least we have classes like Vanguard Strategy, Clan Study, and Basic Analysis. Oh well, I'll just go to the classes and do what I'm supposed to. It's not too bad._

_ Anyways, until tomorrow, your friend,_

_ Kouichi._

* * *

**_Nan man-kai demo makenai kimochi dorō shite__  
__Kagayaku mirai e Ride massuguna kimi ga sukida yo! _**

**_Naitemo waratte mo ichido kiri no shinken shōbu honkidesu hora hibana chirase__  
__Seikai mo riyū mo nakute ī yo yancha-gokoro kattedesu! Tsukande hanasanaikara _**

**_Makezugirai kuyashī toki wa namida shite mata tsuyoku narou__  
__Tsugi no itte wa (hisshō! )__  
__Nan demo ari no (jōkyō! )__  
__Ima kirifuda misete ageru yo _**

**_Nan man-kai demo atsui kimochi dorō shite__  
__Kimi ga omou mama ni Ride don'na sora mo toberu yo _**

**_Genkai toppa de saigo wa makikaesou So Let' s Fight!__  
__Matta nashi ne honki dashite motto saikō no Fight o!_**

* * *

**Me: My god, that took up 26 freaking pages! HOW?!**

**Astral: (sighs) You do that without realizing.**

**Me: It doesn't seem like that much! Anyways, moving on…**

* * *

**Name: Leo Seth  
Age: 16  
Hair: Spiky white hair  
Eyes: Blue eyes  
Rank: Second Year Dragonic Red  
Clothes: Dragonic Red jacket with a baggy t-shirt underneath and grey shorts  
Clan: Nova Grappler  
Personality: He's a really cheerful person, always smiling. He also like to be funny and try and cheer people up, although sometimes he gets annoying when he does.  
Fun Facts: He has an awful sense of direction, as well as ADHD.  
Creator: Black Chains of Abyss**

**Name: Mana Hydral  
Age: 16  
Hair: Aquamarine shoulder length hair  
Eyes: Blue eyes  
Rank: Second Year Vermillion Yellow  
Clothes: Vermillion Yellow jacket with a white t-shirt and blue denim shorts.  
Clan: Oracle Think Tank  
Personality: She's a nice girl, but a bit of a tomboy. She will get angry and annoyed at her friend Leo easily though.  
Fun Facts: She's afraid of ghosts and supernatural things.  
Creator: Black Chains of Abyss**

**Name: Rean Yanto  
Age: 15  
Hair: Shaggy black hair  
Eyes: Amber  
Rank: First year Dragonic Red  
Clothes: Tan dress shirt under Dragonic Red jacket. Denim shorts that go past his knees. Amber necklace.  
Clan: Kagero  
Personality: Easy to get along with, generally nice and respectful to everyone. Doesn't back down easily.  
Fun Facts: He hates onions and seafood.  
Creator: The Humble Batora**

**Name: Kazumi Efilstine  
Age: 17  
Hair: Black tied in two pigtails by ribbons.  
Eyes: Green  
Rank: Third year Soul Saver Blue / Third Best Fighter  
Clothes: Senior Soul Saver Blue girl's outfit, meaning Soul Saver Blue jacket, blue skirt, and blue shoes.  
Clan: Murakamo  
Personality: She's known as a total ice queen, and she basically is. She will break character around Vayle though, since she has a huge crush on him.  
Fun Facts: The ribbons in her hair were given by Vayle when they were kids.  
Creator: zetis void**

**Name: Vayle Ingrid  
Age: 17  
Hair: Shoulder-length silver hair  
Eyes: Green eyes  
Rank: Third year Soul Saver Blue / Second Best Fighter  
Clothes: Soul Saver Blue Senior outfit, meaning jacket, blue shirt, and black pants.  
Clan: Shadow Paladin  
Personality: Laid back and cool, easygoing person.  
Fun Facts: He has been mistaken as a girl before because of his hair. Despite that, he does have quite a lot of fangirls, although none of them dare do anything because of, well, Kazumi.**

* * *

**Me: And, uh, part two! The original cards!**

**Astral: Murakamo units. **

* * *

**Kage Initiate, Abysus  
**Grade 0 / Human – Murakamo / Power: 5000 / Shield: 10000  
AUTO: When a card named "Kage Apprentice, Abysus" rides this unit, search your deck for up to one card named "Kage Samurai, Abysus", reveal it to your opponent, put it into your hand, and shuffle your deck.

**Kage Apprentice, Abysus  
**Grade 1 / Human – Murakamo / Power: 6000 / Shield: 5000  
CONT [V]: If you have a card named "Kage Initiate, Abysus" in your soul, this unit gets [Power]+2000.  
AUTO: [Choose a Grade 3 «Murakamo» from your hand, and discard it] When this unit is placed on (RC), you may pay the cost. If you do, search your deck for up to one card named "Kage Warlord, Abysus", reveal it to your opponent, put it into your hand, and shuffle your deck.

**Kage Samurai, Abysus  
**Grade 2 / Human – Murakamo / Power: 9000 / Shield: 5000  
CONT [V]: If you have a card named "Kage Apprentice, Abysus" in your soul, this unit gets [Power] +1000.  
AUTO [V]: When this unit attacks a vanguard, this unit gets [Power] +2000 until end of battle.

**Kage Warlord, Abysus  
**Grade 3 / Human – Murakamo / Power: 10000  
CONT [V]: If you have a card named "Kage Samurai, Abysus" in your soul, this unit gets [Power] +1000.  
ACT [V]: [Counterblast (2)] This unit gets +3000 Power. When this unit's attack hits a vanguard, choose two of your 'Murakamo' rearguards and send them to the bottom of your deck. Choose two 'Murakamo' units from your deck and call them to separate open (RC). At the end of your turn, the units superior called by this effect are sent back to your deck.

**Central Arrester  
**Grade 1 / Warbeast – Murakamo / Power: 6000 / Shield: 5000  
AUTO [R]: When this unit boosts a unit with "Kage" in it's name, the boosted unit gets [Power] +3000 until end of battle.

* * *

**Me: Oh well, I'm good! Review and bye!**

**Astral: She procrastinated so long on this...**

* * *

_Kouichi: Oh, classes. My least favourite time of the day._

_Rei: Um, shouldn't someone wake Heiwami up? She's been sleeping non-stop all morning…_

_Emil: Ack! Why are there bullies here!_

_Kouichi: There are bullies in this school too?_

_Heiwami: Um Charlene? Aren't you late for something?_

_Charlene: I wanna see this before going back to the others!_

_All: Next time, "Standing Up To The Bully"_

_Emil: Wait! Why me!_


	4. Standing Up To The Bully

**Me: Yeah... these chapters are long so they take me a while. Anyways, I don't own Vanguard, all rights go to TV Tokyo and Bushiroad, and WHY DOESN'T THE UNDERLINE EVER WORK?!**

**Astral: That has always annoyed her.**

* * *

**Cardfight Vanguard: Cray's Heroes**

"You heard, didn't you, Ren-san." Aichi said to the red-haired fighter in the living room of his house. There were four in there, Aichi, Ren, Kai, and Leon.

"Yeah, but it sure was unexpected!" Ren replied, like a child. He was wearing a black business suit and sitting on the sofa like an impatient child, sipping a cup of tea.

"The Shadow Paladins were said to have made peace with us after that fight between you two." Kai said, his arms crossed and his face in the usual expression of blank. "To think that it could come down to Earth, while also attacking us."

"Nemain's been a special case really." Ren said. "She was never a real Shadow Paladin, just a witch who was outcasted by the United Sanctuary and who Phantom Blaster Dragon invited to his clan. So in a way, she was just a guest to the clan, not a real member."

"That still doesn't explain why or how Skull Witch Nemain appeared in our world. It took all of Takuto's technology to be able to have us visit Cray once a month, for one hour." Leon said. "Cray does not have that technology, and even if they did, that doesn't explain why a unit would attack."

"Yeah, that's right…" Aichi said, deep in thought. "At this rate, the link between Earth and Cray is going to break…"

"By the way, Ren, what was it you said you wanted to tell us." Kai said.

Ren sipped his tea, then put the cup back on the table. "It's gone." He said seriously, completely different from a few minutes ago.

"What's gone?" Aichi asked.

"My Phantom Blaster Overlord. It's gone." He said. "Somebody stole it."

* * *

_**Vanguard Fight!  
Taiyō no Beam karadajū ni abite  
Stand Up saa Soul Chārge shite hashire  
Vanguard Fight, Ready Go! !  
Ready Go! ! **_

_**Atarashī Generation!  
Makiokose! Revolution!  
Mirai e Navigation!  
Asu o kiri hiraite Break suru **_

_**Ike yo! Perfect janakute mo ī sa  
(Drive Check Vanguard!)  
Tobeyo! Seishun no sora e **_

_**Vanguard Fight!  
Taiyō no Beam karadajū ni abite  
Stand Up saa Soul Chārge shite hashire  
Aiyaiyaiyaiyaiyaiya!**_

_**Vanguard Fight!  
Ride on the wave! Nani mo osorenaide  
Shōri no Card furikazase saa ikou  
Ayaiyaiyaiyaiyaiya!**_

_**Vanguard Fight, Ready go! !**_

* * *

"…and that's how the United Sanctuary came to be." The teacher finished explaining. "I hope you all took your notes, because this will be on next week's test."

The class groaned.

"And now," the teacher looked at his class list, "Miss Soratsuki, please explain one of the factors the Oracle Think Tanks contributed to the building of the Sanctuary."

The room was quiet.

"Miss Soratsuki! Miss Soratsuki!" The teacher yelled. "Wake up!"

"Chicken noodles!" Heiwami yelled, snapping awake and lifting her head. She waved. "Oh. Hi. What's up?"

The teacher sighed. "I said—"

"No thank you." Heiwami interrupted.

The teacher stared at her. "Excuse me?"

"I said no thank you. No doubt this is gonna be something that isn't gonna help me sleep, so…. no thank you."

Some of the students snickered. The teacher glared.

"Now listen young lady…" He trailed off when Heiwami had fallen back asleep and was snoring loud enough for the class to know that the teacher's lecture wasn't going to work. More kids snickered.

Kouichi sighed. What was with that girl?

* * *

**Ride 4: Standing Up To the Bully**

"W-Well then, continuing on—"

"HELLO!"

"Oh what now…" The teacher mumbled and looked at who had just barged into the classroom, then paused. A young woman with light-blue hair and a sailor uniform leaned on the doorway, panting out of breath.

"Isn't that…" Kouichi stared, "Charlene Chen… why…"

"G-Gimme a minute…" She breathed. After a few seconds where the entire class was staring at her as she breathed heavily, she stood up straight and smiled pleasantly.

"Hi! I'm Charlene Chen!" She waved.

_We know who you are…_ Half of the class sweat-dropped.

"Anyways, don't mind me!" She ran down the aisle towards the sleeping Heiwami, then shook her awake. Heiwami's head shot up.

"Apple pie! Oh, Charlene, what is what?" Heiwami asked, rubbing one eye awake.

"Here! He gave you this to help out!" Charlene passed her a card, and Heiwami's eyes widened at it.

"No thanks. I already have a hard enough time when I have to use another deck, I'd rather not start another complication." She pushed the card back. "Besides, I don't even use Gold Paladins."

"Pooh. Then what am I supposed to do with this?" Charlene whined.

"I dunno, give it to someone random. Now can you let me sleep?"

"Okay!" And with that, Heiwami went back to sleep, and Charlene walked off to the section where the Soul Saver Blues were sitting.

"Here!" Charlene passed the card to the silver-haired Blue, who took it with a shocked expression after seeing the card. "Have fun with it!" She waved and skipped out of the classroom.

Rei looked at her fleeting figure, then at at the card again, words leaving her. Students leaned over to her and joined her in staring at the card.

"Oh my god…"

"It's that…"

"It really is!"

"She gave you Incandescent Lion, Blond Ezel?!"

"It's the actual Blond Ezel!"

In her hands was the legendary vanguard card, used by Aichi Sendou himself, _the_ Incandescent Lion Blond Ezel. How? She didn't know. She didn't even use Gold Paladins, so how was this going to work? But then, Charlene had already left…. Oh this was getting strange.

"Well then," the teacher cleared his throat, "if I can get some teaching done now—"

"Mr. Blair, sir—"

"OH FORGET IT!" The teacher stormed out of the room, dragging the messenger who had appeared at the door with him. "Cardfight amongst yourselves until your next class!" When he left, the class cheered and began talking with their friends, fooling around aimlessly.

"So Emil, you wanna have a cardfight?" Rean asked him.

"D-Do we have to?" Emil asked.

"It'll help pass the time, so why not!"

"Oh, um, sure then…" He nodded, then got out his deck clumsily. Rean did the same, and they shuffled their decks.

"Stand up, vanguard!" Rean said. "Amber Dragon, Dawn!" **[Amber Dragon, Dawn – 4000]**

"S-Stand up, v-vanguard." Emil stuttered. "Grassland Breeze, Sagramore." **[Grassland Breeze, Sagramore – 6000]**

_**-linebreak(sometimelaterI'mnotfreakingwritingthisf ight!)-**_

The sixth card fell into Emil's damage zone as he disappointedly declared "I lose…"

Rean smiled as he gathered up his deck. "Well, it wasn't that bad! Besides, have you ever checked my rank?"

Emil looked confused as he used his VA-Tracker and scanned Rean. "You're ranked 10th best in the Reds!"

"Well, it's only Red's, but this is still pretty good if you take into account that this is out of all the first, second, and third years."

"There are no third years in Red though."

"Yeah, so just consider the second and first years." Rean shrugged. "It's not bad. What rank did you get?"

Emil hung his head. "127." He mumbled.

"It could be worse." Rean said, trying to cheer him up. "You're not the worst."

"Yeah..."

"Well, it was a great match."

"Great match? Hah! Yeah right! The only thing I see through my excellent eyes is that a pathetic amateur just lost!" A gruff voice yelled. Emil's cards were sweep off the table by a large Blue with a brown mohawk, while his three lackeys snickered in the background. Emil squeaked and leaned down to reach the cards, only to have one of the lackeys stomp on his hand.

"What are you doing?" Rean yelled.

"We're doing what weaklings like you Reds deserve!" Another lackey yelled.

"Who the hell let this weakling in?! Vanguard Academy is for people like us who have potential!" The first lackey pressed harder on the poor teen hand, earning a gasp of pain. "We should kick this failure out of here!"

"Yeah we should boss!" One of his lackeys piped up.

"B-But I earned my way in like everyon—"

"Save it you loser! You suck! No wonder you're in the Red dorm! I bet you just randomly got lucky in your fight, or you snuck in!" The bully yelled.

"Hey boss! This loser uses a Gold Paladin deck!" One of his lackey's yelled.

The boss raised an eyebrow. "Gold Paladin you say? Well, you loser, I will be taking your deck! No worries, I will take good care of it, and tap into it's full potential unlike you! I sure they would agree to have a new master! Definitely one that doesn't suck!"

"B-But that's my deck!"

"And you don't deserve it!"

Kouichi stood up. What were they doing?! He was about to storm over there when he saw it again. That flash of crimson fire flickering around the weird girl Heiwami. She had woken up and was suddenly standing in the middle of the Blues and Reds, arms crossed.

"What do you think you're doing? Fighting with other students through physical violence is not allowed unless it is school registered and approved off." Heiwami said to the Blues. "One."

The boss glared at her. "You're that weird Malfunction Girl!"

"And?" Heiwami cocked her head. "Is there a point you're trying to make?"

"Yeah there is! A pathetic Red like you can't tell me what to do!" His lackeys laughed.

"Discrimination of ranks is another violation of school rules." Heiwami stated. "That's two."

The laughing stopped. "And so what?" One of they bragged. "It's not like you can do anything about it!"

"Oh really?" The edge of her lip curled upwards slightly. "Are you sure about that?"

"I don't like where you're going with this girly!" The main bully growled.

"It is not my business to care about your feelings." Heiwami stated simply.

"Why you!" He charged a punch towards her, expecting her to fly backwards. What happened next shocked everyone. The punch was caught effortlessly and he was pulled forwards enough for her to glare eye-to-eye at him.

"Attacking a person designated by the school officials as 'more important'. That's three." Kouichi swore he saw a fiery aura around her for a second. "You're out."

And then she punched him back. It collided with a loud thunk, right in his stomach, sending him flying back into the back wall. The kids stared at her scarily calm expression.

"W-What?" Slipped out of the mouth of one of the lackeys.

Heiwami dusted her hands off. "Ew, cooties." She mumbled, wiping the hand which had hit the bully on the Red jacket tied around her waist.

"H-How dare you hit our boss!" Another lackey yelled and ran forwards, trying to hit her. She caught the punch and threw the guy face-first onto the ground.

"And uh, do you need something?" She asked the guy, poking him on the back with her foot. "Or did you just wanna join your friend unconscious on the ground?"

"I-Is she being sarcastic or actually serious?" Emil mumbled.

"It's pretty hard to tell with her, honestly." Rean mumbled back.

The two remaining lackeys panicked.

"W-Whatever! We don't need those pathetic cards anyway!" One of them yelled. He kicked a card back at Emil. "You can keep them!"

The side of the card ripped and Heiwami froze for an instance. Rei gripped her head as pain suddenly shot through it. Kouichi stared. A golden aura around the card appeared for a second, and he swore he heard a small scream.

"What was that?" He muttered, looking at the fight scene.

There was a loud boom as the room shook and everybody jumped in shock. Heiwami had stomped her foot, a scary angry expression on her face.

"You. Idiots." She said slowly. "Do. You. Have. Any. Idea. What. You've. Just. Done." The fire was back, and this time he actually felt heat emanating off of her, despite being three rows away. "You. _IDIOTS. _Just."

_"Would Heiwami Soratsuki please report to Principal Brown's office immediately?" _

"In a while Brown I'm in the middle of something!" Heiwami yelled at the speaker.

_"Heiwami immediately means immediately. Now get in here before you destroy anything!"_

"Too late for that." She mumbled, storming her way to the exit and pulling the main bully out of the hole he had made on the wall. "You really shouldn't make out with the wall like that. It'll make the other walls jealous."

At the exit was Kazumi, standing there with her cold expression and crossed arms. "Why did he call you?" She asked.

"Probably to stop me from bursting into flames and burning anything…" Heiwami grumbled. "I'm out." She slammed the door shut behind her.

Kazumi breathed out, then turned to the rest of the class. "I'm here to handle the troublemakers. Who are the people who caused this trouble? Who caused the most trouble?"

_It would have probably been Heiwami…_ Kouichi thought. "Those guys were bullying that guy." He said, pointing at the four bullies and then at Emil.

"Well then, you're coming with me to the principal's office. All of you." Kazumi said. "Someone drag the two unconscious ones to the office too."

"U-Um, I'll come in a second." Emil said quietly, gathering up his cards. Kazumi nodded in agreement, then turned to the rest of them. Leo picked up the main bully, Rean picked up the other lackey, and the other two lackeys left the room with Kazumi.

"Here." Kouichi knelt down and handed him one of his cards. Emil took it thankfully.

"You missed a few." Rei held out a few more of his cards.

"T-Thanks." Emil nodded. He looked at the torn card. Battlefied Tempest, Sagramore. "Aww… my card…"

"Those bullies had better be getting punished." Kouichi said. "They deserve it."

"Sure…" Emil put his deck back into his deck case. "I-I gotta head to the principal's office about this."

"I'll go with you." Kouichi shrugged.

"I can too!" Rei said.

"Y-You guys don't have to do that for me…" Emil stuttered, not believing he was getting attention, the good kind.

"Why not? We want to see that bully get what's coming for him." Kouichi said. "Come on."

Emil looked back and forth between the Yellow and the Blue, and then nodded.

_**-linebreakofsomesort-**_

"…and oh you should have seen him, oh it was just so annoying! They freaking just kicked the damn card, and they freaking tore it!" Heiwami continued ranting in Principal Brown's office, pacing up and down. "And ooooohhh you shoulda just let me punch their faces in oh that would have been nice! That's what idiots like that deserve!"

"Heiwami, calm down."

"And they were standing there all smug but the expression came off when I punched that guy who was punching me, he smashed into the wall really hard! You should probably get someone to fix the new hole."

"Heiwami, calm down."

"Plus there was another guy who wanted to join his friend in being unconscious so he just sorta fell down, I think he's got a concussion or something it was a pretty clumsy fall. The bananahead who got bullied's cards are still all over the ground, and he should pick them up before the janitor comes up to sweep the room—"

"Heiwami!" Heiwami stopped pacing to look at the principal. "Sit down. Calm down. Please be quiet."

"You coulda just said so. My mouth hurts from explaining things to you now." Heiwami plopped herself down in a chair and leaned back, yawning. Principal Brown resisted the urge to yell at her, and instead looked at the door, which opened with Kazumi and the other students entering in it.

"So, what happened?" He asked. "I've heard from Heiwami that apparently, 'Musclebrain and the Three Stooges were bullying Bananahead'. Anyone care to explain what that means?"

"Musclebrain," Kouichi pointed at the main bully, who was waking up, "and the Three Stooges," he pointed at the three lackeys, "were bullying Bananahead over here," he pointed at Emil.

"Ahh, that makes much more sense." Brown smiled, and Heiwami made a face.

"I explained it just fine." She grumbled.

"Well then, Bob Johnson," He looked at the main bully. "Detention for three more weeks. That goes for your friends as well."

"That's not enough!" Heiwami yelled. "They ripped a card! Get them expelled or something!"

"I said calm down Heiwami." Brown said without looking at her.

"At least get a vanguard fight involved in this! It's not fair!"

"A vanguard fight actually sounds like a good idea." Kouichi said.

"Yeah!" Bob suddenly stood up straight, pushing Leo away. "When I win, my punishment's taken off for the year!"

"And when you lose the punishment's doubled!" Heiwami yelled back.

"Fine then!"

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

"Meep…" Emil squeaked.

"Tomorrow at noon, in the Blue arena!" Bob yelled. "Don't chicken out."

"Like Bananahead here would be scared of you!" Heiwami shot back.

"U-Uh, c-can I-I j-just—"

"Fine then! We're going!" And then Bob ran out of the room, his 3 lackeys following.

"Fine!" Heiwami yelled, even though he was gone. "Oh jeez. Hey bananahead dude. Don't lose tomorrow." She smacked Emil on the back. "If you don't you gotta answer to me!"

Emil squeaked again. This was going just peachy.

_**-linebreakofsomesort-**_

"Breathe in, breathe out." Emil chanted to himself as he walked extremely slowly to the Blue arena, his legs refusing to stop shaking. "Breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in, breathe out."

"Emil-kun."

Emil jumped in terror, and turned around to see Rei looking at him. Not one of the bullies. He breathed out. Wait. She was a Blue. Oh my god he just realized he had been talking to a Blue casually yesterday! And not just any Blue, the girl who's popularity had spread around campus in a week! Was he going to get punished by the popularity gods for doing something like that?

"I-I'm so sorry!" He yelled.

Rei's eyebrows furrowed. Oh wow, she was cute even when she was confused! What was wrong with him! "For what?" She asked.

Oh great. He had made a fool of himself again. This always happened. "N-Nothing. A-Anyway, w-what did y-you want to, um, t-talk about?" He was stuttering more than usual. This really wasn't going his way.

"Well, you're fighting that bully today. I think that's really brave of you." Rei said.

_Although the Malfunction Girl forced me into it…_ "Y-Yeah… Although I'm probably gonna lose… and then he'll get off free all because I'm not strong enough…"

"That's not true! You can do it! I wanted to give you this." Rei handed him a card, and he took it. He stared.

"T-T-T-This i-i-i-is—"

"You use a Gold Paladin deck, I saw it. It'll help." Emil swore she saw her blush slightly. "So try your hardest to win."

"O-Okay…" He mumbled, half in shock. They stood together, not really meeting each other's eyes. He had no idea what to do with girls. He was hopeless with everything. Especially situations like this! Oh he was going to have an awful headache later on. Maybe he should…

The awkward moment was broken when Kouichi came over and patted Emil on the back. "So, you ready for the match?" He asked.

"What? Oh, yeah, probably, I mean maybe, I mean, oh I don't know." Emil snapped out of it and stumbled. He put the card into his deck case.

"You coming?" Kouichi turned to Rei, who nodded, still slightly surprised.

"Yes." She replied, then began walking. "Well, come on!" Kouichi followed her, with Emil following him.

"H-How can you just talk to her so casually?" Emil whispered to him. Kouichi looked at him with an expression that said 'explain please'. "She's a Blue, and you're a Yellow!"

"We're both people. I don't see the problem with talking to others." Kouichi said. "Now come on."

Emil stared at him. "S-Sure."

_**-linebreakofsomesort-**_

"Alright, you dudes know how to play vanguard. No cheating, no demeaning each other if you can help it, blah blah blah other official stuff." Heiwami said, speaking casually while standing in the spot where the judge would oversee the match. "Look, can we just get this over with? I wanna nap."

"Why are you the judge?" Bob yelled at her, his field all set up and ready to go.

"Cause I won the rock-paper-scissors thing with Brown! Now start the damn match already!"

Bob scowled. "Stand up, vanguard!" He yelled.

"S-Stand up, vanguard!" Emil also said.

_ The motion figure system activated, and soon the two were transported to Cray. On one side, in a flash of dark light appeared a demon like man with bat-like wings. He held a spiked football and stood in a ready position to run to the opposition. _"Smart Leader, Dark Bringer!" **[Smart Leader, Dark Bringer – 5000]**

_On the other side, golden light died down to reveal a small boy in simple clothing and holding a dark blue bow that was the same size as him. By his side was a large dog, who's head matched the helmet on the boy's head. _"Grassland Breeze, Sagramore." **[Grassland Breeze, Sagramore – 6000]**

"Trial deck…" Heiwami muttered. "Peachy." She looked at the two. "Emil Bananahead Walker gets the first turn!"

"B-Bananahead?" Emil said. "U-Uh, I draw. I ride Evil Slaying Swordsman, Haugan."

_The boy and his dog disappeared, and were replaced by a man who's body was covered completely with red and gold armor. Long red hair trailed out the back, and his sword glowed in red and gold as well. _**[Evil Slaying Swordsman, Haugan – 7000]**

"I end my turn." Emil said.

"My turn! Draw!" Bob declared. "I ride Reckless Express! Smart Leader, Dark Bringer moves!"

_The demon dissolved away into dark light, and that dark light formed a large football player who's body was covered in silver gear. Red spikes were everywhere on him, and he, like the demon before, was holding a spiked football. To his side the demon from before reappeared. _**[Reckless Express – 7000]**

"And I call Spike Brothers Assault Squad! With Assault Squad's boost, Dark Bringer attacks your vanguard!" **[Spike Brothers Assault Squad – 4000] [5000 + 4000 = 9000]**

"N-No guard!"

_The demon raced forwards and hurled his spiked football at the swordsman, who stepped back from the impact._

**[Damage Check – Knight of Elegant Skills, Gareth – No Trigger]**

"Both Dark Bringer and Assault Sqaud's skills activate!" Bob yelled. "Dark Bringer moves to the soul and I superior call Demonic Lord, Dudley Emperor!"

_The demon disappeared, and dark light shone as a huge robot glowing in red and blue light descended onto the field. The ground shook as it landed, and it gave off a murderous aura. _**[Demonic Lord, Dudley Emperor – 10000]**

"G-G-G-Grade 3 on the first turn?!" Emil squeaked. Spike Brothers were crazy!

"Idiot." Heiwami mumbled.

"This isn't going good for him." Kouichi said.

"This is where it's happening?" A voice said behind him. Leo and Mana entered in.

"We heard Bananahead was having some trouble and came to see what's up!" Leo said.

"That guy, Bob, was being mean to him." Rei said. "What's his deal?"

"Same year as us." Mana said. "He was a bully last year, and apparently hasn't changed at all this year."

"If he's in second year, why was he in our class?" Kouichi asked.

"He got held back because of bad grades, along with _somebody_ too." She elbowed Leo in the ribs hard.

"Oww! It wasn't my fault I thought the Neo Nectars were from the United Sanctuary!"

They stared at him. "Really?" Kouichi said.

"I didn't know!"

"That's not the point here!" Rei said. "We have to cheer for Emil!"

_**-linebreakofsomesort-**_

"Assault Squad stands because of its own skill! Now Reckless Express attacks your vanguard!" **[7000]**

"No guard!"

**[Drive Check – Dudley Douglass – No Trigger]**

**[Damage Check – Charjgal – No Trigger]**

"Demonic Emperor, Dudley Lord attacks with Assault Squad's boost!" **[10000 + 4000 = 14000]**

"N-No guard."

_ Bright lights shone as the giant blasted beams across the field, slamming into the opposing warrior._

**[Damage Check – Silent Punisher – Critical Trigger]**

"C-Critical trigger. All effects to Haugan."

"Assault Squad stands and I end my turn."

**Emil – Bob**

**5 – Hand – 4**

**1 – Soul – 1**

**3 – Damage – 0**

**0 – Counterblasted – 0**

**Field:**

**None – none = none – none**

**None – Evil Slaying Swordsman, Haugan = Reckless Express – none**

**None – none = Demonic Emperor, Dudley Lord – Spike Brothers Assault Squad**

"Oh this isn't going good for him already!" Mana said. "Go Emil!"

"M-My turn then… Stand and draw." Emil said. Okay, he had to do whatever he could this turn. "I ride Knight of Superior Skills, Beaumains!"

_In golden light emerged a knight in red and gold armor, with a large lion's head design on his middle. He held a shield with a lion design, and a large sword to go with it. _**[Knight of Superior Skills, Beaumains – 10000]**

"I call Sacred Guardian Beast, Nemean Lion and Charging Chariot Knight." **[Sacred Guardian Beast, Nemean Lion – 8000] [Charging Chariot Knight – 8000] **"Chariot Knight attacks your vanguard. Because I have less cards in my hand right now, he gains 3000 power."

"No guard."

_The silver-armored knight charged forwards with his spear and chariot, slashing the football player on the side._

**[Damage Check – Sky Diver – No Trigger]**

"Nemean Lion attacks your vanguard." **[8000]**

"Cheerful Lynx guards!"

"Beaumains attacks Reckless Express."

"No guard."

_Despite his heavy armour, the knight charged forwards and stabbed the opponent's side. They collided with a loud clang._

**[Drive Check – Sleygal Sword – No Trigger]**

**[Damage Check – Devil Summoner – No Trigger]**

"I-I end my turn." Emil said, the confidence from attacking before completely gone.

**Emil – Bob**

**4 – Hand – 3**

**2 – Soul – 1**

**3 – Damage – 2**

**0 – Counterblasted – 0**

**Field:**

**None – Sacred Guardian Beast, Nemean Lion = none – none**

**None – Knight of Superior Skills, Beaumains = Reckless Express – none**

**None – Charging Chariot Knight = Demonic Emperor, Dudley Lord – Spike Brothers Assault Squad**

"I stand and draw!" Bob yelled. "I ride Dudley Mason!"

_A giant with dirty skin and a blue and red football uniform's top rose from the rumbling ground. Huge yellow spikes were on his shoulders, and his football was huge and glowing red with power. _**[Dudley Mason – 9000]**

"I call Dudley Dan and Treasured Black Panther!" _The two inhumane players appeared onto the field. _**[Dudley Dan – 4000] [ Treasured, Black Panther – 10000]**

"Spike Brothers Assault Squad boosts, Demonic Emperor, Dudley Lord attacks your vanguard!" **[10000 + 4000 = 14000]**

"I guard with Blessing Owl!"

"Dudley Dan boosts, Dudley Mason attacks!"

"No guard!" Emil said quickly.

**[Drive Check – Blow Kiss, Olivia – No Trigger]**

**[Damage Check – Fortune Bell – Stand Trigger]**

"I give the power to Beaumains, and Chariot Knight stands." He said.

"Dudley Mason's skill activates!" Bob yelled. "I counterblast one, soul charge a card from my hand, and superior call from my deck. Dudley Daisy!"

**[Soul Charge – Reckless Express – No Trigger]**

_From a small hurricane of wind, a girl with short red hair, bat wings and a black devil tail, and an extremely short leather cheerleader outfit appeared, smiling across meanly. _**[Dudley Daisy – 7000]**

"Dudley Daisy's counterblast. She gains 5000 power! With Daisy's boost, Black Panther attacks Beaumains!" **[10000 + 7000 + 5000 = 22000]**

"N-No guard!"

_The panther man slammed into the gold paladin knight, sending him spiralling back._

**[Damage Check – Knight of Elegant Skills, Gareth – No Trigger]**

"And that's the end of my turn!"

**Emil – Bob**

**3 – Hand – 1**

**2 – Soul – 3**

**5 – Damage – 2**

**0 – Counterblasted – 1**

**Field:**

**None – Sacred Guardian Beast, Nemean Lion = Treasured, Black Panther – Dudley Daisy**

**None – Knight of Superior Skills, Beaumains = Dudley Mason – Dudley Dan**

**None – Charging Chariot Knight = Demonic Emperor, Dudley Lord – Spike Brothers Assault Squad**

"Aaah, it's five to two!" Rean yelled. "He shouldn't have gone up against a Blue! What was he thinking?!"

"Emil-kun…" Rei said.

"Don't lose now!" Kouichi yelled. "Try your best!"

Heiwami looked back and forth between the fight, the two players, and the audience. She sighed. "Idiots."

"S-Stand and draw." Emil said. _Okay, I'm at a huge disadvantage here, so I gotta try my best right now and do what I can. _"Brave warrior of the paladins, it's time for battle! I ride Great Silver Wolf, Garmore!"

_ From a pillar of silver light emerged a man wearing gold and silver armor. He had long brown hair from underneath his helmet and on his hands were two huge claws, glowing in green light. _**[Great Silver Wolf, Garmore – 10000]**

"Garmore's counterblast! I superior call Knight of Elegant Skills, Gareth!" **[Knight of Elegant Skills, Gareth – 8000] **"With Gareth's boost, Nemean Lion attacks Dudley Mason!" **[8000 + 8000 = 16000]**

"No guard!"

_The lion leapt forwards and bit at the side of the giant._

**[Damage Check – Devil Summoner – No Trigger]**

"Garmore attacks Dudley Mason! Garmore's limit break! He gains 5000 power!" **[10000 + 5000 = 15000]**

"No guard!"

"Twin drive." Emil said.

**[Drive Check – Charjgal – No Trigger]**

**[Drive Check – Weapons Dealer, Gwydion – Draw Trigger]**

"Draw trigger! Power to Charging Chariot Knight and I draw."

_ The man ran across the field, yelling a battle cry and slashed right at the middle of the towering giant, who fell back a few steps._

**[Damage Check – Demonic Lord, Dudley Emperor – No Trigger]**

"Charging Chariot Knight attacks." **[8000 + 5000 = 13000]**

"Blow Kiss Olivia guards!"

_Before the knight manages to use his spear to hit, a woman with succubus wings and tail appeared in his path. She wore a sporty outfit, and there were ram horns on her head. She held a gun and fired it into the sky, scaring the knight enough to go back to his own side._

**Emil – Bob**

**6 – Hand – 0**

**3 – Soul – 3**

**5 – Damage – 4**

**2 – Counterblasted – 1**

**Field:**

**Knight of Elegant Skills, Gareth – Sacred Guardian Beast, Nemean Lion = Treasured, Black Panther – Dudley Daisy**

**None – Great Silver Wolf, Garmore = Dudley Mason – Dudley Dan**

**None – Charging Chariot Knight = Demonic Emperor, Dudley Lord – Spike Brothers Assault Squad**

"It's my turn, stand and draw!" Bob yelled. He looked at the card he drew and stopped.

Heiwami sighed. "I figured as much." She looked at them. "Being overly reckless at the beginning and using up your hand may have caused early damage to Bananahead over there, but it left you with no cards or strategy for later turns. By superior calling Dudley Lord, you were so desperate to cause as much damage as possible that you lost your later turn advantages with the damage gap."

Emil stared. "So…"

"He's hit a brick wall. He could've ridden Demonic Emperor, making it nearly impossible for you to win, but he can't. He was too reckless. He lost his leverage."

Bob growled. "Fine then! I don't need to get to Grade 3 to beat you! Treasured Black Panther attacks with a boost from Dudley Daisy!" **[10000 + 7000 = 17000]**

"Nemean Lion's especial intercept!"

"Dudley Mason attacks with a boost from Dudley Dan!" **[9000 + 4000 = 13000]**

"Elixir Sommelier guards!"

He was getting desperate, Emil realized. This big, mean bully from yesterday was actually getting desperate to beat him.

"Drive check!"

**[Drive Check – Silence Joker – Critical Trigger]**

"Critical trigger!" He yelled. "Power and critical to Dudley Lord! Demonic Emperor, Dudley Lord attacks with a boost from Spike Brothers Assault Squad!" **[10000 + 4000 + 5000 = 19000]**

"Weapons Dealer Gwydion and Charjgal guard!"

The so-called bully's mouth dropped open. He was stuck. But he could still make it through next turn since he could take a damage, and then win the next.

Heiwami looked at him, and one glance told her everything she already knew. She shook her head. These kids were idiots. The outcome had been decided at the first turn.

**Emil – Bob**

**3 – Hand – 2**

**3 – Soul – 3**

**5 – Damage – 4**

**2 – Counterblasted – 1**

**Field:**

**Knight of Elegant Skills, Gareth – none = Treasured, Black Panther – Dudley Daisy**

**None – Great Silver Wolf, Garmore = Dudley Mason – Dudley Dan**

**None – Charging Chariot Knight = Demonic Emperor, Dudley Lord – Spike Brothers Assault Squad**

"I stand and draw." Emil said, drawing. He stared at the card. He took a deep breath. "The burning souls of my comrades will give me strength, light up the path to the future! I ride Incandescent Lion, Blond Ezel!"

_Fire flickered across the field, and from it emerged a man with golden armor. His long hair swirled around him as he brandished two swords. Golden light shone from him, and the Gold Paladin units around him all looked determined for battle now that their leader was there. _**[Incandescent Lion, Blond Ezel – 10000]**

"B-B-Blond Ezel?!" Bob nearly fell down from shock. "H-How did you get…. No way…."

"Woah! It's the actual Blond Ezel!" Mana yelled. "Go get him now Emil!"

"Go Emil!" Rei shouted.

"Blond Ezel's limit break!" Emil said, feeling a bit braver now. "I superior call the top card of my deck!"

He put his hand on the top card, and felt something on it. A tear on the side. That meant that this card was… "I superior call Battlefield Storm, Sagramore!" He said.

_From a tornado jumped out the boy from the very beginning, all grown up and dressed in silver armor. He held two large shuriken-like swords in his hands, carving at the wind. He glared across at the dirty football giant, as if wanting revenge. _**[Battlefield Storm, Sagramore – 10000]**

"Sagramore's power is added to Blond Ezel!"

"Seems like Sagramore wants revenge for what happened yesterday." Heiwami said.

Bob stood there in shock, and possibly a bit of terror, shaking in his shoes.

"Calling another Gareth and Blessing Owl! Blessing Owl gives 2000 power to Charging Chariot Knight!" Emil said. "Charging Chariot Knight attacks with Blessing Owl's boost! Since I have less cards in my hand, Chariot Knight gets 3000 more power!" **[8000 + 3000 + 2000 + 6000 = 19000]**

"S-Silence Joker and Dudley Dan guards!"

_The two demons appeared in the path of the charging knight, only to be slashed apart by his lance._

"Blond Ezel attacks! He gains 1000 for each of his friends on the field!" He was actually feeling brave. He actually might win. He was actually, possibly, maybe, getting stronger! "Gareth boosts, go!" **[10000 + 10000 + 5000 + 8000 = 33000]**

"N-No guard!"

"Twin drive. First check." Emil revealed the card.

**[Drive Check – Knight of Superior Skills, Beaumains – No Trigger]**

"Second check!"

**[Drive Check – Elixir Sommelier – Heal Trigger]**

"Heal trigger! I heal one damage and give the power to Sagramore!"

_ The warrior leapt into the air, diving straight at the giant in a fireball of golden light, smashing him backwards._

**[Damage Check – Cheer Girl, Marilyn – No Trigger]**

"N-No way!"

"Sagramore attacks with Gareth's boost! I counterblast to add 3000 power!" **[10000 + 8000 + 3000 + 5000 = 26000]**

_Sagramore yelled, running forwards towards the giant. He swung his dual blades around faster and faster, until there was a storm of wind around him. The swords slashed him right in the chest, right at the heart, and the giant gave out a cry before falling backwards, dissolving into thin air._

**[Damage Check – Demonic Lord, Dudley Emperor – No Trigger]**

**Emil – Bob**

**3 – Hand – 0**

**4 – Soul – 3**

**4 – Damage – 6**

**4 – Counterblasted – 1**

**Field:**

**Knight of Elegant Skills, Gareth – Battlefield Storm, Sagramore = Treasured, Black Panther – Dudley Daisy**

**Knight of Elegant Skills, Gareth – Great Silver Wolf, Garmore = Dudley Mason – Dudley Dan**

**Blessing Owl – Charging Chariot Knight = Demonic Emperor, Dudley Lord – Spike Brothers Assault Squad**

"He won!" Leo and Mana yelled together.

"Great win!" Kouichi shouted.

"You were great!" Rei said as she ran towards him and hugged him full force. Emil's face visibly reddened, and Rei's did too when she realized what she was doing. "I-I mean, that was great, your win."

"W-Well, thanks for giving me the card." Emil said. "I-I couldn't have done it without it."

"It was great anyways!" Rean said.

As the six celebrated the win, Heiwami went over to where Bob was. "Yup, you got detention to deal with."

Bob looked at her. "The match was decided from the beginning?" He wondered.

"Sure. Spike Brothers are strange, but a bit predictable. All the players I know are strange." Heiwami said, looking off out a window. "You're honestly boasting a bit too much. The best Spike Brothers player I know's like you though. He was better than average, although he said weird stuff. Kept calling himself the Space Conqueror or something. I called him the Space Smotherer."

He gave her a weird look. "Space Conqueror?"

"Something like that. Although his real name was Kya or something. Kyuu, Kyaa, Kyee, uh…" Heiwami began to walk off, having completely forgotten about what she was supposed to do. "It might have been Kyupi, no… Kyan? Ugh, I don't remember…." She breathed out a puff of air. "He was weird."

_**-linebreaking-**_

_Dear Takuya,_

_ Yesterday some dude came by and began bullying this Red called Emil, which resulted in a whole lot of chaos. I think I saw that weird fire from before again, and possibly a card scream when it got torn. Bit ridiculous, isn't it. _

_ But remember that time when we were hanging out and those thugs came by? They ripped up your card, and I think I heard a scream that time as well. I'm probably just being silly, aren't I? Cards don't do stuff like that! And it was a common too, so you got it replaced easily. I just never shook off that feeling of weirdness._

_ Back to yesterday, a whole bunch of yelling resulted in a cardfight today between Emil and that Blue bully, who's name is Bob. And while Emil was losing for most of the fight at the beginning, he somehow pulled it around with Ezel. Yeah, the actual Blond Ezel! Can you believe it?! Yesterday, Charlene Chen, yeah the one from Team Dreadnought, came by and randomly gave it to that popular Blue girl Rei or something, and she gave it to Emil! He pulled it around with Incandescent Lion, Blond Ezel! It was so cool! Remember all those times we watched Aichi Sendou ride it on TV? I saw it in person today, and although it wasn't Sendou, it was the next best thing!_

_ Hope this gets to you somehow._

_ Your friend,_

_ Kouichi._

_**-linebreakofsomesort-**_

"Hey! Back! Fight was fun! Did you know that Aichi actually gave away Blond Ezel? What is he thinking?!" Heiwami yelled as she walked into Principal Brown's office.

"Please lower your voice."

"Sure sure." Heiwami sat down in a chair. "But still, I don't even use Gold Paladins! And I already got _that _card, I don't need another."

"This is a dangerous job, and currently only you're able to get to it. There's nothing wrong with them wanting to help."

"Pffff…" Heiwami mumbled. "Yeah yeah. But anyways, you said you got word back. What'd he say?"

The principal sighed, and looked out the window behind him. "The link is breaking."

She stared. "What?"

"The link. With both you and him gathered here in one place for so long, along with some other students who also have it, it's apparently knocking the balance off a bit too much. That's why Nemain was able to attack. That's why you felt it when just a common card like Sagramore was hurt."

Heiwami didn't say anything. She was handed a few papers. "This is their current update. Look it over, and get some rest."

"You don't need to tell me twice." She muttered, and began walking out. "You just do your thingy and I'll do my part."

"Yes." The principal nodded. "And while you're at it, try and keep the fire down."

"It's not like I can control it! It's just there! Nobody can see it anyways, so what does it matter?"

* * *

**_Nan man-kai demo makenai kimochi dorō shite__  
__Kagayaku mirai e Ride massuguna kimi ga sukida yo! _**

**_Naitemo waratte mo ichido kiri no shinken shōbu honkidesu hora hibana chirase__  
__Seikai mo riyū mo nakute ī yo yancha-gokoro kattedesu! Tsukande hanasanaikara _**

**_Makezugirai kuyashī toki wa namida shite mata tsuyoku narou__  
__Tsugi no itte wa (hisshō! )__  
__Nan demo ari no (jōkyō! )__  
__Ima kirifuda misete ageru yo _**

**_Nan man-kai demo atsui kimochi dorō shite__  
__Kimi ga omou mama ni Ride don'na sora mo toberu yo _**

**_Genkai toppa de saigo wa makikaesou So Let' s Fight!__  
__Matta nashi ne honki dashite motto saikō no Fight o!_**

* * *

_Kouichi: Miss…. Vanguard…. Academy? What?_

_Rei: I don't want to do this I don't want to!_

_Kazumi: Oh you'll be great now just do it please._

_Emil: Um, um, um, um, what? This isn't making any sense! What am I doing?!_

_Vayle: SOMETHING!_

_Rei: What?_

_Emil: What?_

_Kouichi: What?_

_Heiwami: Yawn._

_All: Next time: "Miss Vanguard Academy!"_

_Rei: Oh I can't do this I can't do this I just can't!_

_Heiwami: That's Emil's line, not yours!_

* * *

**Me: Welp, here you are. See you in probably another month, cause that's like the average time it takes me to write these. Review, see you next time on chapter 5.**


	5. Miss Vanguard Academy!

**Me: This has gotta be, like, a record for how fast I've written a chapter of Cray Heroes! Anyways, due to some complications, I went back to the previous chapter and changed the preview for this one. If you want, go check it out. Won't really make much of a difference though.**

* * *

**Cardfight! Vanguard: Cray's Heroes**

"And, uh, why do we need a Miss Vanguard Academy?" Heiwami asked. "Seems weird. And stupid. And redundant. Seriously, you have girls parading around in bathing suits when there's no water around to swim in. What's the point!"

Principal Brown twitched.

"Plus you say a whole bunch of catfights break out because of this between the girls! I don't know how the girls on this island got cats, or how they trained the cats to be able to fight each other, but seriously! You're the one who keeps going on about no fighting unless it's safe and school authorized!"

"Heiwami, please just sit down."

"Okay okay, kay kay kay then," Heiwami sat down. "And so, what's the deal?"

"As you said, there are quite a lot of catfights in the halls, so I need you to make sure nothing too serious happens. Watch over the place."

"So in short, you want me to be police man fight breaker upper again."

"…yes. I want you to be 'police man fight breaker upper' again."

"Okay." Heiwami shrugged. "And now, my issue!"

"What did you want to talk about?"

Heiwami took out the report she had gotten from him last time. "What's this word?" She pointed at one on the sheet. The principal looked at it.

"It's 'predicament'." He said.

"Aaaand, what's that mean?"

"It means issue, problem."

"Oooh! Next word!" Heiwami pointed at a word in the next sentence. "What's that?"

"It's 'understanding'."

"And what does that mean?"

"It means you 'get something'."

"Oh! Next word!"

"Heiwami, can we please not go through this _every time_ you have an English assignment or some big book?"

"But I don't understand it!"

Principal Brown sighed. "I'm getting you a tutor. Someone to bother other than me. Now just go manage the hallways."

"Aye aye general sir!" Heiwami saluted, then marched out.

* * *

**_Vanguard Fight!__  
__Taiyō no Beam karadajū ni abite__  
__Stand Up saa Soul Chārge shite hashire__  
__Vanguard Fight, Ready Go! !__  
__Ready Go! ! _**

**_Atarashī Generation!__  
__Makiokose! Revolution!__  
__Mirai e Navigation!__  
__Asu o kiri hiraite Break suru _**

**_Ike yo! Perfect janakute mo ī sa__  
__(Drive Check Vanguard!)__  
__Tobeyo! Seishun no sora e _**

**_Vanguard Fight!__  
__Taiyō no Beam karadajū ni abite__  
__Stand Up saa Soul Chārge shite hashire__  
__Aiyaiyaiyaiyaiyaiya!_**

**_Vanguard Fight!__  
__Ride on the wave! Nani mo osorenaide__  
__Shōri no Card furikazase saa ikou__  
__Ayaiyaiyaiyaiyaiya!_**

**_Vanguard Fight, Ready go! !_**

* * *

"I-I don't want to join something like that!" Rei said as the other Blue girls pushed her to a registration booth at the front of the gym. Right after the last class of the day, the girls had _forced her_ all the way over here and was trying to get her to sign up for what might as well have been a vanguard version of a beauty pagent. The thought made her skin crawl.

"Come on, it'll be fun!"

"Besides, look at the rankings!"

**Soul Saver Blue:**

1. Meredith

2. Rei

3. Kazumi

4. Emi

5. Stephanie

**Vermillion Yellow:**

1. Amy

2. Hayeon

3. Rena

4. Mana

5. Erica

**Dragonic Red:**

1. Heiwami

"I-I'm ranked…"

"Second best!"

"You have to join!"

"Um… um…"

This was really getting awkward and uncomfortable for her….

* * *

**Ride 5: Miss Vanguard Academy!**

"Okay, what is going on here!" Like magic, the crowd parted for a tall girl with spiralling green hair and narrow brown eyes. She wore the Soul Saver Blue girls outfit, an annoyed expression, and extremely unnecessarily tall high heels.

"M-Meredith!"

"Meredith's here!"

"Meredith, w-why are you here?"

The girl clicked her tongue, obviously not amused by what was going on. "Checking on the rankings, that's what. I'm still first, so there's no problem. And I'll be winning this year again, like usual."

"Yeah right! This year Rei's gonna win!"

"Yeah!"

"W-What?" Rei said, stepping back. "I-I never said that I was even joining…"

"Well then, don't bother." Meredith glared at her. "I always win, and someone pathetic like you doesn't stand a chance.

"U-Um, I wasn't planning on joining, but you know that's not nice to—"

"Are you trying to be some sort of frilly nice girl? It's really making me sick!" Meredith rolled her eyes. "You know what, join. Join, so I can crush you and show you how pathetic you are."

"Hey! You can't say stuff like that!"

"That's just plain rude!"

"Who cares! Bitches like you deserve it!" She yelled.

Heiwami yawned, suddenly standing between Rei and Meredith, covering her mouth as she let out a yawn that actually silenced the crowd and made everyone stare at the intrusion. "Okay, okay calm down people."

"W-Where'd you come from?!" Meredith said, then recovered and frowned at her. "Ugh, great. More stupid bitches have come to try and compete against me!"

"And… you are?" Heiwami looked at her and asked.

"Meredith Summers! Two time Miss Vanguard Academy, and about to be three time next week!"

"Well then, Miss Meredith Summers, that's one. Insulting your fellow peers."

"What are you talking about?" Meredith stomped her foot on the ground. "This is ridiculous. Move out of my way."

"Nah, I'd rather stay in this spot, thank you very much." Heiwami said, then yawned again, looking at her. "Your hair's really green. How do you get it that color?"

Meredith twitched. "Oh my god I cannot believe you!"

"How can you not believe in a person? I'm standing right in front of you."

"Ugh! Forget it!" She yelled, then glared at Rei. "Get ready to lose. You are going down."

"Threatening another contestant. That's two." Heiwami eyed Meredith, who, despite being taller than the Red, took a half-step back. "Don't make me get to three."

Meredith growled, then huffed and turned away. "Fine then. I'm going. This isn't over…"

"Isn't it technically over since you're leaving?"

"I mean this whole subject!" The Meredith left with her two lackeys following, grumbling something about unintelligent girls. Heiwami turned back to look at Rei and the other Blue girls.

"She's a funny person." Heiwami said. "Although some of the stuff she said didn't make much sense."

"W-Why are you here?" Rei asked.

Heiwami shrugged. "Apparently this happens a lot so Brown wanted me to be the fight breaker upper again. I'm basically the campus police here, along with some other big security guys who never seem to wanna talk to anyone."

"R-Right…." Rei shook it off. "So, are you entering?"

"Entering what?"

"Miss Vanguard Academy?"

"Why would I do that?"

"You're ranked best in Red."

"I am?" Heiwami looked at the board, then frowned in surprise. "Wow I am! That ain't supposed to happen!"

"That's probably because you're the only girl in Red." One of the Blues next to Rei said.

"Oh yeah…." Heiwami thought about it. "But still, that ain't supposed to happen. I'm not joining something like that. You join and beat her."

"W-What? Why does everyone want me to—"

"You're wimping out?" Heiwami said. "Miss Anakisa, being challenged like that's all the more reason to go for it and show her whose boss."

"B-But, I can't…"

"That's stupid. It's an insult if you even try to just give up." She yawned. "I gotta meet up with Brown again for something, so I'm going. Think about it." Then she walked away down the hall.

_**-limitbreakingthelinebreak!-**_

Rei walked nervously into the school's cardshop, named Card Island. Ironic, since they were on an island. The cheap fluorescent lighting and small space seemed a bit, well, poor compared to the Blue dorm. In the corner, Kouichi and Emil were opening card packs together.

"Did you get anything good?" Emil asked.

"Mmm, not really. Bunch of Shadow Knight commons. Here's some Gold Paladin rares though."

"Oh, thanks."

"U-Um…" The two boys looked up to see Rei standing by their table. Emil stood up in shock.

"R-Rei! Why are you here?"

"Hey. What's up?" Kouichi said casually.

Rei sighed, grabbing a chair and sitting down at their table. "Quite a lot, actually."

_**-someexplanationslater-**_

"And so you now gotta either compete in Miss Vanguard Academy or be known as a wimp forever?" Kouichi summed up. "Well that just sucks."

"Yeah…" Rei sighed, resting on one hand, elbow propping her up.

"So what are you going to do then?" Emil asked.

"Good question." Rei's head hit the table, as she sulked. "Oh jeez… I'm going to have such a huge headache from this…"

Kouichi shrugged. "Well, the sign up doesn't end until tomorrow. You got lots of time to figure out a plan."

"Suuure." Rei's muffled voice came out.

Kouichi and Emil looked at each other. "There's an exhibition match going on today for students to watch for fun. You wanna go see? It might help you clear your mind a bit." Kouichi suggested.

"Somebody requested a fight against someone else. It'll probably be fun, and it'll give us something to do." Emil said, looking at his deck. "I think this might be good."

"Mmmm…" Rei mumbled. She lifted her head, the bangs of her silver hair slightly messed up. "Sure, why not… It'll distract me a bit from this…"

_**-linebreakofsomesort-**_

Rei, Kouichi, and Emil sat down in the seats of the Blue dorm arena. Around half of the seats were full, and the arena was bright. The fight was supposed to start really soon.

"Okay kids, today we have an exhibition fight requested by Arthur Jones from Soul Saver Blue!" A teacher standing at the judge area said. From the left entered a sixteen year old boy with very short blond hair and hazel eyes. He waved at the audience, then stood at his position on the motion figure system, taking his deck out and getting ready. The audience clapped politely.

"And his opponent!" The teacher announced. There was silence.

"What? Izzat my cue? Oh sorry." From the other side walked out a familiar Red, the jacket tied around her waist and dark hair, and sleepy tone. "Whoops."

Rei and Emil stared. Kouichi twitched. "Her again?" He mumbled.

"S-She seems to pop up everywhere." Emil said. Rei nodded.

Heiwami held up her hand. "Hey teach, I got another problem, so gimme a minute."

The teacher frowned at her. "What's the problem?"

"I don't have a deck, soooo…. Yeah…." She said, looking around the room. "I'll handle it."

Heiwami ran out of the arena again, then came in from the top of the seats for the arena and ran to a Vermillion Yellow girl. "Hey! Lemme borrow deck, please?" She took the deck before the girl could respond. "Thanks bye!" Then she jumped over the railing, freaking out a lot of people, landed at her spot on the motion figure system, and waved to the teacher. "We can start now."

"O-Oh, okay then." The teacher said. "Start the match!"

"Stand up, vanguard!" Arthur yelled. "Larva Beast, Zeal!"

"Stand up, the vanguard." Heiwami said. "Bermuda Triangle Cadet, Weddell." **[Bermuda Triangle Cadet, Weddell – 5000]**

_ On Cray, in a barren battlefield on the edge of the ocean, dark because of the clouds in the sky, a small beast of silver and red, with a tail and two horns appeared from light blue light. Its face had a hole Y-shaped and glowing yellow, with parts of its body glowing bright yellow as well. _**[Larva Beast, Zeal – 4000]**

_On the other side, in the water appeared a small mermaid with long purple hair, a loose white t-shirt, and a blue tail. Despite the card having a nervous expression, when Heiwami inhabited the mermaid, she looked across at the small beast and sighed, waving her tail. She seemed to be more interested in her new mermaid form than the fight._

"I have quite looked forwards to this, fighting the girl who Miss Kazumi." Arthur said. "This will be interesting. Although I would have preferred to fight your original deck."

"Oh. Well, I don't have it with me, so I guess you can't." Heiwami shrugged. "Meh, I got nothing else to do today, so I might as well do this."

"Heiwami has the first move." The teacher.

"Sure." Heiwami said. "This is a funny deck. Hey Yellow girl! What's this deck's main?!"

The Yellow girl peered over the railing at her in shock. "U-Um, Atlantica…"

"Oh, okay." Heiwami looked at her hand. She cocked her head and blinked. "Not bad. Not bad…"

And at that moment, Kouichi thought he saw something blue flash around her. It was strange, he couldn't describe it, but even though he knew he was perfectly safe, sitting in the arena, he felt a huge wave of water in front of him, smashing him back. It was hard to breathe underwater, suffocatingly hard. It was wet, soaking wet. He was drowning. He was drowning in his seat in the Blue arena, water filling his lungs.

And when he opened his eyes, he was perfectly dry, breathing fine, and still watching the match like nothing had just happened.

"Dress rehearsal. Let's start with Mermaid Idol, Sedna. Weddell moves back. I end." Heiwami said.

_The purple-haired mermaid swam backwards, and in her place, from purple light, formed another mermaid with flowing pink hair and a pink tail. _**[Mermaid Idol, Sedna – 8000]**

"Stand and draw." Arthur said. "I ride Eye of Destruction, Zeal!"

_ The beast glowed in blue light as it grew taller and taller, towering over the two nervous mermaids. _**[Eye of Destruction, Zeal – 7000]**

"Zeal gains a continuous 1000 power. Zeal's skill. I check the top seven cards and add Devourer of Planets, Zeal to my hand. Now I call Psychic Grey. My boosted Eye of Destruction, Zeal attacks Sedna! Since your vanguard has 8000 or less power, Zeal gains 4000 power because of Grey's skill!" **[8000 + 6000 + 4000 = 18000]**

"Kay kay, no guard." Heiwami shrugged.

_The huge beast's yellow eye shot a beam of energy down at the pink mermaid, shocking her and making her scream. _

**[Drive Check – Magical Police, Quilt – No Trigger]**

**[Damage Check – Pearl Sisters, Perla – No Trigger]**

"I end my turn."

**Heiwami – Arthur**

**5 – Hand – 6**

**0 – Soul – 1**

**1 – Damage – 0**

**0 – Counterblasted – 0**

**Field:**

**none – none = none – none**

**Bermuda Triangle Cadet, Weddell – Mermaid Idol, Sedna = Eye of Destruction, Zeal – Psychic Grey**

**none – none = none – none**

"Let's see, drawing." Heiwami said. "Sing throughout the ocean, swim throughout the sea. I ride Prism Smile, Ligurian!"

_The pink mermaid disappeared, and in her place appeared a new mermaid with light blue, almost green long hair, with two braids down the sides tied by purplie ribbons. She wore a purple dress with ribbons, plaid, ruffles, and matching gloves. Her tail was a bright clear blue, which waved happily through the water. _**[PRISM-S Ligurian – 10000]**

"Calling Pretty Celeb, Charlotte and Mirror Diva, Biscay!" _Two mermaids, one with extremely long, wavy blond hair and the other with short purple hair and Hawaiian themed clothing popped up from the water, shaking the water out of their hair and high-fiving. _**[Pretty Celeb, Charlotte – 9000] [Mirror Diva, Biscay – 6000]**

"Biscay's soulblast. Reflection Burst." Heiwami fanned out the top seven cards of the deck. "I add another Biscay to my hand.

"Bermuda Triangle concert, opening act begin! Weddell boosts, Ligurian attacks Eye of Destruction, Zeal!" **[10000 + 5000 = 15000]**

"No guard!"

"Drive check."

**[Drive Check – Gunslinger Star, Florida – Critical Trigger]**

"Critical trigger get!"

_ The mermaid swam through the water, jumping into the air very high and smacking the beast across the face with her tail._

**[Damage Check – Twin Order – No Trigger]**

**[Damage Check – Galactic Beast, Zeal – No Trigger]**

"Biscay boosts, Charlotte attacks Zeal!"

_The blond mermaid opened her mouth and sang, her voice ringing out surprisingly loudly, confusing the large beast._

**[Damage Check – Noise Monster, Decibelon – Stand Trigger]**

"Charlotte's counterblast. She returns to my hand, and from it, I superior call Fan Diva, Minato!"

_The blond mermaid dived down into the water, and from her spot emerged a mermaid with blue hair in pigtails, a green dress, and a ruby red tail._** [Fan Diva, Minato – 10000]**

"Minato attacks your vanguard!"

"No you don't! Karenroid Daisy guards!"

"I end my turn."

**Heiwami – Arthur**

**5 – Hand – 5**

**0 – Soul – 1**

**1 – Damage – 3**

**1 – Counterblasted – 0**

**Field:**

**Mirror Diva, Biscay – Fan Diva, Minato = none – none**

**Bermuda Triangle Cadet, Weddell – PRISM-S Ligurian = Eye of Destruction, Zeal – Psychic Grey**

**none – none = none – none**

"Stand and draw." Arthur said. "I ride Devourer of Planets, Zeal!"

_The monster's body grew in form, getting wider and more muscular, with its middle still glowing that ominous yellow and its robotic body silver-plated._** [Devourer of Planets, Zeal – 9000]**

"This one gets a continuous 1000 as well, and now Eye of Destruction Zeal's effect activates from the soul! I decrease your vanguard's power by 3000!" Arthur yelled.

"What?!" Emil yelled.

"You can do that?" Rei asked.

Kouichi nodded. "Yeah…"

_Ligurian yelled in pain as a yellow aura covered her, weakening her down. _**[Power: 7000]**

"I call Assault Monster, Gunrock, Twin Order, and Eye of Destruction, Zeal!" Arthur yelled as the monsters swarmed his field. **[Assault Monster, Gunrock – 8000] [Twin Order – 10000] [Eye of Destruction, Zeal – 7000]**

"Gunrock attacks! Because your vanguard has less than 8000 power, it gains 3000!" **[8000 + 3000 = 11000]**

"Mirror Diva, Biscay guards."

"My boosted Devourer of Planets attacks Ligurian! Because your vanguard has less than 8000, it gains 4000 power!" **[10000 + 6000 + 4000 = 20000]**

"No guard."

_The giant beast noticed the tiny mermaid beneath him, and shot her with the yellow beam from the part of his face, blasting her through the water and causing the tide to come in roughly._

**[Drive Check – Devourer of Planets, Zeal – No Trigger]**

**[Damage Check – PRISM-I Clear – No Trigger]**

"Twin Order attacks with a boost from Eye of Destruction, Zeal!" **[10000 + 7000 = 17000]**

Heiwami shrugged, letting the attack through.

**[Damage Check – PRISM-R Nile – No Trigger]**

"I end my turn." Arthur said. "What do you think? Pretty well matched, isn't it?"

**Heiwami – Arthur**

**4 – Hand – 3**

**0 – Soul – 2**

**3 – Damage – 3**

**1 – Counterblasted – 0**

**Field:**

**Mirror Diva, Biscay – Fan Diva, Minato = Assault Monster, Gunrock – none**

**Bermuda Triangle Cadet, Weddell – PRISM-S Ligurian = Devourer of Planets, Zeal – Psychic Grey**

**none – none = Twin Order – Eye of Destruction, Zeal**

"Well matched?" Heiwami looked at him. "Aaaand, why would you think that?"

Arthur shrugged. "You're using a deck you just got today, while I've been training at this school for an entire year already. Despite only seeing the deck today, you seem okay with it. So far we're pretty even."

"So far?" Heiwami drew her card. "Pretty even? Guess that means I gotta show you how 'pretty even' we actually are then." She stood her units, then took a card from her hand and held it in the air, and it glowed a bright purple.

"Mr. Jones, please don't put me in the same group as those average fighters you've fought with in the past. I am on a completely other level, and if you can't see it, I guess I'll have to force it in you." She said. "Because, after all, I'm someone who's already broken every limit there is! I ride Prism Image, Vert!"

_From the glowing purple light swam out a light brown-haired mermaid, her hair in pigtails. She wore a schoolgirl-like top and bottom, with a plaid bow in the middle. There was a small white hat on the side of her head, and two green fin for ears on the sides of her head. The water began swirling around her, like a small whirlpool in the water. _**[PRISM-I Vert – 11000]**

"Since a grade 3 just appeared on the vanguard circle, guess what? Minato gains 10000 power!"

"10000?!"

"Girls Rock Rio! I call her, then activate Weddell's skill! By moving her to the soul, Rio returns to my hand so I can activate her counterblast! I soulcharge and draw!"

**[Soul Charge – Girls Rock, Rio – No Trigger]**

"Call Clear and Charlotte!" She continued. "Clear's boost, Charlotte attacks Twin Order!" **[9000 + 7000 = 16000]**

_The mermaid sang her pure song, shattering apart the robotic hero._

"Vert attacks Zeal! Vert's skill! She gains 2000!" **[11000 + 2000 = 13000]**

"Dissection Monster, Kaizon guards!"

"Twin drive!"

**[Drive Check – Sweets Harmony, Mona – No Trigger]**

**[Drive Check – PRISM-M Canaria – Critical Trigger]**

"Critical trigger! Power and critical to Minato! Biscay boosts, Minato attacks Zeal!" **[10000 + 10000 + 6000 + 5000 = 31000]**

"N-No guard!"

_ The mermaid swam forwards, jumping through the air and slamming into the beasts left leg, making it stumble and fall backwards._

**[Damage Check – Diamond Ace – No Trigger]**

**[Damage Check - Gem Monster, Jewelmine – Draw Trigger]**

"Draw trigger! Power to Zeal and I draw!" Arthur said gratefully.

"My turns over though." Heiwami said. "So, whatchya gonna do about it?"

**Heiwami – Arthur**

**5 – Hand – 3**

**3 – Soul – 2**

**3 – Damage – 5**

**2 – Counterblasted – 0**

**Field:**

**Mirror Diva, Biscay – Fan Diva, Minato = Assault Beast, Gunrock – none**

**none – PRISM-I Vert = Devourer of Planets, Zeal – Psychic Grey**

**PRISM-I Clear – Pretty Celeb, Charlotte = none – Eye of Destruction, Zeal**

"Stand and draw." Arthur said. "With its wicked powers, it will level everything in its path! I ride Galactic Beast, Zeal!"

_Multicolored lights began shining in the sky around the beast as it once again grew larger, growing another head and two more arms. There was two humoungous wings at its side, and parts of its body began shooting lasers off at different directions. As it landed on the ground, the entire area shook with an earthquake, and the water began to splash about irregularly. _**[Galactic Beast, Zeal – 10000]**

"This Zeal, like the others, gains 1000 continuous power. And now Devourer of Planets, Zeal's skill! Your vanguard's power drops by 3000!"

_Vert screamed as black lightning shocked through the water in her area. _**[Power: 8000]**

"Calling Karenroid Daisy and Electro-star Combination, Cosmogreat! Cosmogreat's counterblast. I give 4000 power to Gunrock! And now, Galactic Beast Zeal, Limit Break!" He yelled. "Terrain Breakdown!"

_The huge beast stomped its foot, causing the entire ocean to rumble, with the ground breaking away at places and the water to splash everywhere. The shockwaves caused much of the water to tide and wash away, leaving the water level for the mermaids low. _**[Power: 3000]**

"Vert loses 1000 for each of my Dimensional Police rearguards!"

"She only has 3000 power left?!" Emil yelled.

"That's really bad right now." Rei said.

Heiwami breathed out. She looked up at the stands, right at Rei, who noticed. She mouthed something along the lines of 'imagine it for a second, will ya', then back at the fight, her eyes narrowing.

Rei's eyebrows furrowed. She took a deep breath, then closed her eyes.

_ Rei landed on Cray, standing on the shore line, the water up to her ankles. She looked up, and nearly screamed at the sight of the Galactic Beast, towering over her. To her side was the five mermaids, the four rearguards looking nervous and scared. Only Vert was still confident. Her arms were crossed and she glared at the monster with Heiwami's expression._

_ "Bring. It. On." Vert said._

"My boosted Cosmogreat attacks Minato!" Arthur yelled. **[10000 + 7000 = 17000]**

_ The large robot pointed its missiles at the mermaid, blasting her apart, with the mermaid behind her glaring furiously._

"My boosted Gunrock attacks Vert! Gunrock's skill! Plus 3000!" **[8000 + 3000 + 8000 + 4000 = 23000]**

"No guard."

_The monster charged forwards, tackling the mermaid in the middle and sending her spiralling back. _

**[Damage Check – Mirror Diva, Biscay – No Trigger]**

"My boosted Galactic Beast, Zeal attacks! Because you have less than 8000 power, he gains 4000 power!" **[11000 + 6000 + 4000 = 21000]**

"Mermaid Idol, Elly! Perfect guard!"

_The giant beast's twin heads both shot down beams of light, combining into a giant beam ready to smash into the main mermaid. Another mermaid appeared in its path, dressed in pastel colors. She held out her hands, and the water around her flew into the air, forming into a shield that miraculously managed to block off the entire destructive beam. The water fell from the air, smashing into the ground and splashing waves everywhere. Rei yelled as water swept over her, filling the ocean again._

"Twin drive!"

**[Drive Check – Noise Monster, Decibelon – Stand Trigger]**

**[Drive Check – Noise Monster, Decibelon – Stand Trigger]**

"Two Stand triggers! Power to Gunrock and Comsogreat, and I stand them! Now Gunrock attacks Vert!" **[8000 + 3000 + 4000 + 5000 = 20000]**

"No guard."

**[Damage Check – Blazer Idols – No Trigger]**

"Cosmogreat attacks Vert!" **[10000 + 5000 = 15000]**

"Canaria, Mona, guard!" Heiwami said.

_ The two mermaids appeared, taking the shots delivered by the giant robot. They were blasted apart into shreds, and Rei watched the smoke clear, with Vert's expression unchanged. Still determined and confident._

**Heiwami – Arthur**

**1 – Hand – 3**

**3 – Soul – 3**

**5 – Damage – 5**

**2 – Counterblasted – 4**

**Field:**

**Mirror Diva, Biscay – none = Assault Beast, Gunrock – Karenroid, Daisy**

**none – PRISM-I Vert = Galactic Beast, Zeal – Psychic Grey**

**PRISM-I Clear – Pretty Celeb, Charlotte = Electro-star Combination, Cosmogreat – Eye of Destruction, Zeal**

"She held out." Emil said. "She held out over two stand triggers."

"Yeah she did…." Rei said. "There's no hesitation in her moves at all."

_No hesitation… Even in a completely unknown situation for her, there's no hesitation in what she does…_

"I'm impressed." Arthur said. "You're using a deck you just got really well, and managing to hold off against my Zeal combination. It is quite surprising."

"Nah, not really." Heiwami said. "You train, you get stronger. You practice, you get better. But if you train the same thing over and over, you only get stronger in that one category. If you practice something a lot, you'll get better, but only at that. Being able to crack through one style, but being blocked in by every other style there is to cardfighting, isn't that a waste? If you can break through one set of limits but be completely cut off by another? I won't hesitate in any of my moves, ever, because if you hesitate, you're giving off weakness. You do things you're not familiar with, and you'll learn something new about yourself in the process. And you'll get stronger than you ever could have when you focussed on just one little category."

"Try things you're not familiar with to get stronger than you could with just something you do know?" Rei repeated to herself.

"Well, isn't that some nice philosophy you got there." Arthur said. "But what are you going to do when you only have one card in your hand, and a half-full field?"

"That? Oh that's easy." Heiwami said. "I'll overcome it. And that's why I have no hesitation or regrets when I do this!" Heiwami drew her card, then held another in the air. "The hurricane of sound sweeps through the ocean, reaching even the deepest trenches at the bottom. Wash over everything in this battlefield with the melody foretelling Final Turn! Break Ride!"

_Vert waved, then dived underneath the water as a huge vanguard symbol flashed through the air, the ocean level rising higher. From underneath the water emerged a new mermaid, with extremely long, dark blue hair covered with a light blue veil. She wore a dress with straps on one side, and golden ruffles over the other shoulder. The gown was a light blue, with golden trim along the sides and rainbow ribbons wrapped around the waist. A rose was on her right hip, with the edge of the dress descending asymmetrically from there, with layered ruffles. There was a small golden crown on the top of her head, and her blue mermaid tail, decorated with colourful beads wrapped around it, splashed through the water. The water churned, as if not happy with the beasts for opposing the inhabitants in it. _"This Bermuda Triangle concert's star, Everlasting Idol Atlantica!" **[Everlasting Idol, Atlantica – 11000]**

"The breakride's effect! I draw one card, return Clear and Biscay to my hand, and Atlantica gains 10000 power!" She yelled. "Clear's soulblast! Atlantica gains 4000 more power!"

"25000 power at her vanguard already…" Emil said.

"And she hasn't even began yet." Kouichi said.

"Call! Prism Romance, Nile! Prism Image, Clear! Mirror Diva, Biscay! Girls Rock, Rio!" Heiwami said. "Atlantica gets 2000 for every Bermuda Triangle called. Since I called four Bermuda Triangles, Atlantica gains 8000 power!"

"8000?!"

"Nile's skill! I unflip one damage. Not activating Biscay's skill." Heiwami continued. "The Bermuda Triangle's main act begins! This song reaches out to everyone across Cray! Limit Break! Melody Uniter!

"By counterblasting two cards, all of my Bermuda Triangle rearguards return to my hand!" She yelled. "Since five were returned this way, Atlantica gains a critical!"

_Atlantica raised her hands into the air as she began singing, glowing a brilliant purple. The five mermaids around her nodded, then swam down, under the water, disappearing from sight._

"Girls Rock Rio and Clear's skills activate. I counterblast 1 to draw one card and soulcharge one card, and then soulblast that one to add another 4000 to Atlantica!"

Arthur stared in shock.

"Now I call! Nile, Clear, Rio, Charlotte, Blazer Idols! Nile lets me unflip another damage, and Blazer Idols adds 2000 power to Rio!" She said. "I just called five units. You know what that means."

_One by one, mermaids popped up from the water's surface, dancing through the water as their vanguard sang, glowing brighter and brighter with power._

"That's a 10000 power boost…" Kouichi breathed out. "That's crazy."

"Blazer Idols boosts, Rio attacks Zeal." Heiwami said. **[8000 + 6000 + 2000 = 16000]**

"Noise Beast, Decibelon guards!"

_The blue-haired guitarist plucked some chords on her guitar, blasting apart the robotic speaker system that appeared in her path._

"Clear boosts, Charlotte attacks Zeal!" **[9000 + 7000 = 16000]**

"Devourer of Zeal guards! Gunrock intercepts!"

"And that's the end of the line for you." Heiwami said. "Nile boosts, Atlantica attacks! Tidal Wave Tune!" **[11000 + 10000 + 4000 + 4000 + 8000 + 10000 + 7000 = 54000 Critical 2]**

"No… guard…."

_The mermaid flew into the air, diving through the air to the beast and spinning in the seven colors of the rainbow. A huge tidal wave followed behind her, shimmering. They collided with the beast, sending it falling backwards, cracking the ground and shaking the very Cray as it was defeated._

**[Drive Check – PRISM-S Ligurian – No Trigger]**

**[Drive Check – Everlasting Idol, Atlantica – No Trigger]**

**[Damage Check – Justice Cobalt – Critical Trigger]**

**Heiwami – Arthur**

**3 – Hand – 1**

**3 – Soul – 3**

**5 – Damage – 6**

**3 – Counterblasted – 4**

**Field:**

**Mirror Diva, Biscay – Girls Rock, Rio = none – Karenroid, Daisy**

**PRISM-R Nile – Everlasting Idol, Atlantica = Galactic Beast, Zeal – Psychic Grey**

**PRISM-I Clear – Pretty Celeb, Charlotte = Electro-star Combination, Cosmogreat – Eye of Destruction, Zeal**

"I told you." Heiwami said. "No hesitation, no regrets, and overcome everything in the way."

The motion figure system faded away, and the crowd began applauding for the match. "The winner, Heiwami Soratsuki!"

"Good match." Arthur smiled.

Heiwami gathered up the cards, then looked at them. "Yeah, I guess." She ran up to the audience, back to the Yellow girl and handed her the deck. "Here ya go! It's a nice deck!"

"Yeah… t-thank you…" The girl mumbled.

"Hm? Why you thanking me?"

"Well, you said some really cool things out there, and I never really thought about my deck being strong enough to win a match like that…"

Heiwami cocked her head. "What's your name?"

"S-Sora Kobayashi…"

"Well then, Miss Kobayashi, you can get stronger. Stop moping around and get out there. Atlantica here," She tapped the card, "can't wait for you to be able to do cool things with her. Have fun together!" She waved, then ran out of the arena.

"That was… interesting…" Emil said. Kouichi nodded in agreement.

"I'm joining."

Kouichi looked at Rei. "I'm joining." She said. "I'm joining the Miss Vanguard Academy contest."

"You are?" Emil asked.

"Yeah. I guess I am." Rei took out her deck and looked at it. "You never know until you try… and trying new things can get you stronger at your old things too…"

Kouichi smiled. "Well, that means this fight was worth watching."

_**-linebreak-**_

Kouichi sat in his room, writing his daily letter."Let's see…"

_ Dear Tayuya, _

_ Apparently the Miss Vanguard Academy contest is starting soon. It's where girls compete to see who's the best at, girl stuff I guess. I'm not really sure, but there's a whole bunch of strange things involved in it. Bikinis or something._

_ Well, do you remember that girl Rei? Silver hair, Blue, pretty nice but a bit timid? Yeah apparently her harem wanted her to join, and this girl Meredith was really mean. Meredith was somehow the winner of Miss Vanguard Academy for the last two years, and during that time she's apparently developed quite the ego. Rei was nervous and all, so we went to see this exhibition fight._

_ The exhibition fight was between this kid Arthur (who's actually older than me) and none other than the Malfunction Girl. Who didn't even have her deck. Did she ever have it to even begin with? I dunno, so she borrowed this Bermuda Triangle deck from this Yellow girl. And won with it. Against Arthur. I'm honestly getting a bit used to this…. Since she's so strange…._

_ But the fight managed to inspire Rei to join. The Yellow girl got her deck back, Rei got a bit more confident, I guess it works out._

Kouichi looked up, tapping the pencil against his chin, thinking about what to write next. Nah, not that. That would just make him seem crazy.

_Well, I guess that's it for today then. Miss Vanguard Academy's tomorrow, I'll write back then. _

_ You're friend,_

_ Kouichi._

Kouichi sat back in his chair, breathing out. He put the letter in an envelope, sealed it, and then put it in the drawer of his desk. Was that real, what he saw today?

_**-flashback-**_

_Heiwami gathered up the cards, then looked at them. "Yeah, I guess." She ran up to the audience, back to the Yellow girl and handed her the deck. "Here ya go! It's a nice deck!"_

_ "Yeah… t-thank you…" The girl mumbled._

_ "Hm? Why you thanking me?"_

_ "Well, you said some really cool things out there, and I never really thought about my deck being strong enough to win a match like that…"_

_ Heiwami cocked her head. "What's your name?"_

_ "S-Sora Kobayashi…"_

_ "Well then, Miss Kobayashi, you can get stronger. Stop moping around and get out there. Atlantica here," She tapped the card, "can't wait for you to be able to do cool things with her. Have fun together!" _

_ And behind Heiwami, a faint image of what seemed to be the mermaid Atlantica, the one which had won the fight, appeared and smiled. Floating in midair. She faded away, and then Heiwami waved, then ran out of the arena._

_Kouichi stared. "What… was that…"_

_**-flashbackend-**_

"Ugh! This school is driving me crazy!" Kouichi groaned. "I'm seeing things now! First I see fire when it's not there, then I'm drowning in a completely dry arena, and now I'm seeing things?!" He smacked his head against the table. "This is weird…"

_**-linebreakofsomesort-**_

"Mmmm… WHY!" Heiwami screamed in the forest on the edge of the school. "I've been here for a freaking hour! Where's the damn tutor supposed to be?!"

She heard a groan behind her, and jumped. "What the hell?!"

"Ugh…" A boy around her age, with greasy brown hair, black-rimmed glasses, blue eyes, and a Soul Saver Blue jacket sat up from behind a tree. "Could you quit yelling, I was sleeping."

"Not my fault. I'm looking for a supposed tutor who's supposed to be here but isn't!" Heiwami complained.

"Well I'm here because Principal Brown asked me to tutor and babysit this girl called Heiwami Soratsuki." The boy said. "Apparently she's loud and hard to control."

Heiwami's eye twitched. "I am not!" She yelled. "And you're my tutor?!"

"If you're Heiwami, then yes I am." The boy replied. "What took you so long?"

"W-What took me?!" Her eye twitched again. "I'VE BEEN WANDERING AROUND THIS FOREST FOR AGES LOOKING FOR YOU!"

"I put up a sign." The boy pointed at a sign on the tree, with the words 'Heiwami Soratsuki Tutoring Session' printed in large letters on it. Heiwami stared.

"W-W-Well, whatever!" She yelled. "The sign annoys me, especially the last two words! Can we just move on?"

"Sure." The boy stood up. He was an inch taller than her, which annoyed her even more. "I'm Stephan Masterson."

"Masterson?"

"Yes. Masterson is my last name." Stephan repeated.

Heiwami looked at him. She blinked. Then she opened her mouth and screamed.

* * *

_**Nan man-kai demo makenai kimochi dorō shite**__**  
**__**Kagayaku mirai e Ride massuguna kimi ga sukida yo! **_

_**Naitemo waratte mo ichido kiri no shinken shōbu honkidesu hora hibana chirase**__**  
**__**Seikai mo riyū mo nakute ī yo yancha-gokoro kattedesu! Tsukande hanasanaikara **_

_**Makezugirai kuyashī toki wa namida shite mata tsuyoku narou**__**  
**__**Tsugi no itte wa (hisshō! )**__**  
**__**Nan demo ari no (jōkyō! )**__**  
**__**Ima kirifuda misete ageru yo **_

_**Nan man-kai demo atsui kimochi dorō shite**__**  
**__**Kimi ga omou mama ni Ride don'na sora mo toberu yo **_

_**Genkai toppa de saigo wa makikaesou So Let' s Fight!**__**  
**__**Matta nashi ne honki dashite motto saikō no Fight o!**_

* * *

**Name: Meredith Summers  
Age: 17  
Hair: Spiralling green hair  
Eyes: brown  
Clothes: Soul saver Blue girls outfit  
Rank: Senior / Third year Soul Saver Blue  
Clan: Neo Nectars  
Personality: Bit obnoxious, very determined, hates being second at anything and extremely competitive.  
Fun Facts: She claims she's on a diet to everyone, but secretly loves eating chocolate in her room.  
Creator: Tsukuyomi-chan (because it's fun!)**

**Name: Arthur Jones  
Age: 16  
Hair: Short blond hair  
Eyes: hazel  
Clothes: Soul Saver Blue jacket and jeans  
Rank: Second year Soul Saver Blue  
Clan: Dimensional Police  
Personality: Nice and mature, acts a bit like an English gentleman.  
Fun Facts: He's afraid of high places, and for some reason, will burn anything he cooks unless it's a cake.  
Creator: Kamen Rider Crimson**

**Name: Sora Kobayashi  
Age: 15  
Hair: Black hair in pigtails  
Eyes: light blue  
Clothes: The Vermillion Yellow jacket with pink shorts  
Rank: Freshman/First year Vermillion Yellow  
Clan: Bermuda Triangle  
Personality: She's a shy and timid girl, but can be nice if she opens up to you.  
Fun Facts: She loves reading and hates bugs.  
Creator: FeatherOfTruth**

**Name: Stephan Masterson  
Age: 17  
Hair: Greasy brown hair  
Eyes: Light blue  
Clothes: Soul Saver Blue boys jacket with dress pants and dress shoes  
Rank: Soul Saver Blue  
Clan: Crossed Mercenaries (original)  
Personality: Calm, cool, and caring, basically quite laid back and relaxed about life.  
Fun Facts: He loves instant noodles and cats, and doesn't like turtles, penguins, and enclosed spaces. His family's also rich. REALLY rich.  
Creator: Flying Ninja**

* * *

**PRISM-R Nile  
**Grade 1/Mermaid – Bermuda Triangle/7000 Power  
AUTO: When this unit is placed on (RC), if you have a «Bermuda Triangle» vanguard, choose a card from your damage zone, and turn it face up.

**Deep Sea Idol, Atlantica  
**Grade 3/Mermaid – Bermuda Triangle/11000 Power  
ACT [V]: [Counterblast (2)] Return all of your «Bermuda Triangle» rearguards to your hand. If five or more units were returned to your hand by this skill, this unit gets Critical +1 until end of turn.  
AUTO [V]: When a «Bermuda Triangle» is placed on (RC), this unit gets Power +2000 until end of turn.  
CONT [V/R]: **Lord** (_If you have a unit that doesn't belong to the same clan as this unit, this unit cannot attack_)

* * *

**Me: Not much to say other than THIS TOOK ME SO LESS THAN THE OTHERS! But the next will take a while. Again. So see you in a month. A month….**

**Astral: Because she is going to procrastinate and do something completly off task for the next few weeks.**

**Me: Yup! So bye! Remember to review!**

* * *

_Kouichi: And there we go, the Miss Vanguard Academy contest is starting._

_Rekka: HELLOOOOOO EVERYONE! ARE YOU READY?!_

_Leo + Mana: YEAH!_

_Rei: Okay, calm down and do this… calm down and do this…_

_Emil: Wait! How'd I get dragged into doing this?!_

_Heiwami: No time for questions now get up there!_

_Emil: This doesn't make sense!_

_Kouichi: I don't think anything does anymore!_

_All: Next time, "A Tag Battle of Couples!"_

_Rei: Couples?!_

_Heiwami: The board said so, not me!_


	6. A Tag Battle of Couples

**Me: Haha I updated quickly for once. Well, I wrote this out a while back, so I just took some of the scenes and changed them up a bit to fit the flow, but otherwise it has the same theme. **

**Astral: We do not own Cardfight Vanguard.**

**Me: Unfortunately…**

* * *

**Cardfight! Vanguard: Cray's Heroes**

"Why?!" Heiwami screamed at Principal Brown, Stephan trying to ignore the noise from behind her.

"W-Why what?" Brown asked.

"Why," Heiwami tried to find the right word, gesturing at Stephan, "him?!"

"Do you have some kind of problem with my last name being Masterson?" Stephan asked her.

"Yes!" She yelled back. "See, there's the whole problem, right there! Is he related to—"

"Yes he is."

"Oh my god! _This_ is the tutor you get me?! I don't need a tutor, and of all the people, him?!"

"I don't even know you." Stephan said.

"That doesn't matter! I still don't want you as my tutor!"

Principal Brown sighed. "Stephan is one of the Blue students with the best grades and academics. And more importantly, he's very_ patient_. Something many people need to put up with you."

Heiwami stuck out her tongue at him. "I still don't like it!"

"This is a tutoring. It's not exactly for your leisure."

"Don't know what that word means..." Heiwami muttered.

"Today was just so you could meet up, and so he can organize some times for you two to get together to work."

"How about Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays after classes." Stephan said. "Probably in the forest, since if you need to yell, it won't disturb too many people."

"Tell me clearly where the tutoring is happening or I won't be able to find it." Heiwami grumbled.

"That's fine by me." He replied. "Bring some of your homework that you need help with, and we'll figure it out together."

"Whatever." Heiwami crossed her arms and turned away. "I'm calling you Macy though."

Stephan stared. "What?"

"I'm not gonna refer to you but that annoying last name of yours! You are now Macy! That is final!"

This was going to be a difficult tutoring. "Sure. You can call me Macy." Stephan shrugged.

"Okay. Now we're done for today. Go! Go go go go!" Heiwami pushed him out of the office. "Bye Macy now go away!"

When Stephan left, Heiwami looked at Brown. "WHY?!" She yelled again.

"He was the only one available. Plus it would be good for you to have some interaction with other people." Principal Brown said. "Even if it's the enemy."

"I don't want to interact with the enemy! I want to punch them in the face and tell them to leave Cray alone and go crawl in a hole or something!"

Principal Brown sighed. "Even so, it would be good if you can make nice with him. But anyways, there's another reason why I have Miss Vanguard Academy."

"Why?" Heiwami sat down in a chair, leaning on one hand.

"So we can have some special people come." The side door of the office opened, and an 18 year old woman with huge peach-colored hair in spirals, walked out, wearing a plain t-shirt and shorts. She smiled and waved.

"Hey! Been a while!" She said happily. "I'm the host!"

Heiwami stared. "R-Rekka?!"

* * *

_**Vanguard Fight!  
Taiyō no Beam karadajū ni abite  
Stand Up saa Soul Chārge shite hashire  
Vanguard Fight, Ready Go! !  
Ready Go! ! **_

_**Atarashī Generation!  
Makiokose! Revolution!  
Mirai e Navigation!  
Asu o kiri hiraite Break suru **_

_**Ike yo! Perfect janakute mo ī sa  
(Drive Check Vanguard!)  
Tobeyo! Seishun no sora e **_

_**Vanguard Fight!  
Taiyō no Beam karadajū ni abite  
Stand Up saa Soul Chārge shite hashire  
Aiyaiyaiyaiyaiyaiya!**_

_**Vanguard Fight!  
Ride on the wave! Nani mo osorenaide  
Shōri no Card furikazase saa ikou  
Ayaiyaiyaiyaiyaiya!**_

_**Vanguard Fight, Ready go! !**_

* * *

"How's everyone doing today!" The eighteen year old idol, wearing a white dress, cheered into a microphone on a stage in a large auditorium. All of the students were sitting in the chairs under the stage. They yelled happily back.

"I'm Rekka and I'm here to introduce this year's Miss Vanguard Academy!" Rekka shouted as people around her cheered. "Are you ready?!"

"Yeah!"

"I SAID ARE YOU READY?!"

"YEAAAAAAH!"

"Thank you Rekka." Principal Brown walked onto the stage. "I hope this wasn't too much trouble."

"No, not at all!" Rekka smiled. "Suiko's always so busy and Kourin's no fun, so it's just me! So who's ready! We got all of the cutest girl's to perform today and you get to choose who's the best!"

The audience cheered.

"How'd the school get a former member of Ultra Rare to come?" Kouichi asked.

"I'm pretty sure the school has connections, but for them to extend that far?" Mana wondered. "Last year we just had some of the teachers introduce it."

"Oh who cares! This is way more interesting!" Leo said. "GO REKKA!"

"Alright, I'm sure you don't want to listen to any boring explanations, so let's get to the action!" Rekka shouted excitedly. "There are thirty girls today competing! The first round's an introduction round! All of the girls are gonna come up in a semi-formal outfit and introduce themselves by saying their names and something nice about them! You get to vote who you thought was the best! The five girls with the least votes will be cut out, and the remaining fifteen will move on to the next round! Let's start!"

The audience cheered. "YEAH!"

* * *

**Ride 6: A Tag Battle of Couples!**

"Next round! Here are the survivors!" Rekka yelled, the screen showing four girl's faces. Rei and Meredith's faces were among them.

"Rei's still in it! Alright!" Kouichi yelled.

"As well as Meredith." Mana grumbled. "Annoying woman."

"G-Go Rei!" Emil tried to cheer, then collapsed back down in his seat, breathing heavily. He was not good with crowds…

"ARE YOU READY?!"

"YEEEEAAAAH!"

_**-linebreakofsomesort-**_

"And now…. Our finalists!" Rekka said and pointed to the curtains, which opened. Rei and Meredith both stood there in their regular school clothes. "Rei Anakisa and Meredith Summer!"

The crowd cheered as a chart appeared on the large screen behind Rekka. "Rei and Meredith both had the same amount of people vote for them!"

"What?!" Meredith yelled. "How's that possible?!"

"And so," Rekka continued, ignoring her, "we're gonna do things a bit differently this year! Normally, the person with more points would get to decide whether to go first or second, and choose which special rule they'd use! But since they're equal, there's gonna be no special rules in effect this year!"

"So what are we gonna do then?" Rei asked.

"We're gonna have a tag fight!" Rekka yelled.

. . . .

"Tag fight?!"

"That's right! A tag fight!" Rekka smiled. "We have a record of every single student that you've talked with. They're gonna be scrambled up here," she pointed at the screen, "And one person that you know is gonna be your partner!"

The screen project both Rei and Meredith's pictures and words flashed under it. A name appeared under Meredith's.

"It's decided! Meredith's partner will be Kairu Takynawa!"

A boy with short black hair, black pants and the Soul Saver jacket ran onto the stage. He and Meredith hugged happily.

In the crowd, Mana pretend-vomited.

"What's wrong?" Emil asked.

"That guy, Kairu." Leo started, "He's Meredith's boyfriend."

"B-B-Boyfriend?!" Emil squeaked. "Then won't they have the advantage?!"

"Yeah. It depends on who Rei gets as her partner." Kouichi said.

The name under Rei's picture stopped.

"And Rei's partner will be Emil Walker!"

. . . .

Emil squeaked pitifully.

"Come on, don't be shy, come on up here!" Rekka said and motioned for him to come. Emil didn't move.

"Aw man, you got chosen!" Leo said and patted him on the back. "Well, try your best!"

Emil was still in shock. Mana snapped her fingers in front of his face.

"It is school regulations for you to do it, so just do it! How bad could it be!"

"Well he could fail miserably and ruin everything for Rei." Leo added.

"Leo! Not helping!" Mana yelled at him as Emil squeaked again.

"Well good luck up there man. You're gonna need it." Kouichi said.

Emil stood up slowly and walked stiffly to the stage. Rei smiled at him.

"It'll be fine, Emil-kun." Rei said. "We're gonna win."

"U-U-Uh, s-sure."

A motion figure system for tag fights rose from the ground. The four of them stepped into position.

"Let's start!" Rekka shouted. "Let's tag fight!"

"STAND UP, VANGUARD!"

"Broccolini Musketeer, Kirah!" Meredith yelled. **[Broccolini Musketeer, Kirah – 4000]**

"First Aid Celestial, Penuel!" Rei shouted. **[First Aid Celestial, Penuel – 5000]**

"Miracle Feather Nurse!" Kairu frowned. **[Miracle Feather Nurse – 4000]**

"C-Crimson Lion Cub, Kyrph!" Emil half-stuttered. **[Crimson Lion Cub, Kyrph – 5000]**

_On Cray, a girl with roots for hair and grassy clothes appeared with a little kid in light green clothes by her side. Across was a smiling girl with green hair, a nurse outfit, and a first-aid box with a boy in red and gold armor by her side._

"Heh, two Angel Feather users, along with a Neo Nectar and a Gold Paladin." Rekka said, smiling at the fight. "This should be interesting. Especially considering what she did." She wiggled a disk around in her fingers.

"I'm going first." Kairu said. "I draw. I ride Heavenly Injector." _The small kid transformed into a woman_ "Miracle Feather Nurse's effect lets me check the top 7 cards of my deck. I add Cosmo Healer, Ergodiel to my hand. That ends my turn." **[Heavenly Injector – 7000 + 1000 = 8000] **_The little child transformed into a women with greenish-blue hair and wings, holding a needle._

"It's my turn. I draw." Rei drew her card. "I ride Thousand Ray Pegasus. First Aid Celestial, Penuel moves to the rearguard. Turn end." **[Thousand Ray Pegasus – 7000] **_A white Pegasus appeared with the nurse girl appearing behind her._

"My turn. Draw." Meredith said. "Ride, Corolla Dragon! Kirah moves to the rearguard. That ends." **[Corolla Dragon – 8000] **_A butterfly-like dragon appeared with the turnip-haired girl behind it._

"I-It's my turn. I draw." Emil said. "I ride Knight of Elegant Skills, Gareth and call another one. Kyrph moves to the rearguard." **[Knight of Elegant Skills, Gareth – 8000] **_A more grown up knight in red and gold armor appeared with another one next to him. The boy jumped behind them._

"My rearguard Gareth attacks Heavenly Injector." Emil said, resting the unit.

"Bouquet Toss Messenger guards." Kairu said.

"T-Then, my Vanguard attacks."

"No guard."

"Drive check."

**[Drive Check – Blessing Owl – No Trigger]**

"Damage check."

**[Damage Check – Iron Heart, Mastema – No Trigger]**

"I end my turn now."

**Meredith – Kairu – Emil – Rei**

**5 – 5 – Hand – 5 – 5**

**0 – 1 – Soul – 0 – 0**

**1 – Damage – 0**

**0 – 0 – Counterblasted – 0 – 0**

**Field:**

**none – none = none – First Aid Celestial, Penuel**

**Broccolini Musketeer, Kirah – Corolla Dragon = Thousand Ray Pegasus – none**

**none – none = none – none**

**none – none = Knight of Elegant Skills, Gareth - none**

**none – Heavenly Injector = Knight of Elegant Skills, Gareth – none**

**none – none = none – Crimson Lion Cub, Kyrph**

"I stand and draw." Kairu said. "I ride Fate Healer, Ergodiel!" **[Fate Healer, Ergodiel – 9000] **"Heavenly Injector's skill lets me switch one card from my hand to my damage zone." He said, switching Mastema with Pure Keeper, Requiel.

_ The angel transformed into a more equipped and armored angel, holding a large silver needle. He spread apart six pure white wings, flying above the field._

"Now I call Clutch Rifle Angel and Gattling Shot, Barbiel." **[Clutch Rifle Angel – 6000] [Gattling Shot, Barbiel – 10000]**_ A bandaged angel with a missile launcher appeared with a medical uniform wearing angel with a large missile gun._

"Clutch Rifle Angel boosts and Ergodiel attacks. Since I have Heavenly Injector in the soul, Ergodiel gets a continuous power boost of 1000. And since I have more damage than you, Clutch Rifle Angel gets another 4000." **[6000 + 9000 + 1000 + 4000 = 20000] **_The angel picked up his gun, took aim, and fired five clean shots._

"T-That much?!" Emil squeaked. "No guard."

**[Drive Check – Cosmo Healer, Ergodiel – No Trigger]**

**[Damage Check – Flash Edge Valkyrie – No Trigger]**

"Gattling Shot, Barbiel attacks Gareth." **[10000] **_The boy shook as he yelled a battle cry and fired bullets over and over_

"N-No guard."

**[Damage Check – Charging Chariot Knight – No Trigger]**

"That ends my turn.

**Meredith – Kairu – Emil – Rei**

**5 – 4 – Hand – 5 – 5**

**0 – 2 – Soul – 0 – 0**

**1 – Damage – 2**

**0 – Counterblasted – 0**

**Field:**

**none – none = none – First Aid Celestial, Penuel**

**Broccolini Musketeer, Kirah – Corolla Dragon = Thousand Ray Pegasus – none**

**None – none = none – none**

**none – Gattling Shot, Barbiel = Knight of Elegant Skills, Gareth - none**

**Clutch Rifle Angel – Fate Healer, Ergodiel = Knight of Elegant Skills, Gareth – none**

**none – none = none – Crimson Lion Cub, Kyrph**

"It's my turn. I stand and draw." Rei said as she drew. "I ride Essence Celestial, Becca!" **[Essence Celestial, Becca – 10000] **_The Pegasus shone with light as it transformed into a girl with golden-blond hair with a dark green hood covering it. She wore a nurses' outfit crossed with a dress, and held two large pink and white weapons._

"I call Thousand Ray Pegasus and Million Ray Pegasus." _Two pegasus ponies appeared side by side onto the field, with large needles in their wings._ **[Thousand Ray Pegasus – 7000] [Million Ray Pegasus – 9000]**

"First Aid Celestial, Penuel boosts Million Ray, who aims at Corolla Dragon!" **[9000 + 5000 = 14000]**

"No guard." Meredith said.

_The pegasus flew across the field, firing shots from medical needles at the small butterfly dragon._

**[Damage Check – Musketeer of Water Lily, Ruth – No Trigger]**

"Thousand Ray Pegasus boosts Becca, who aims at Corolla Dragon!" **[10000 + 7000 = 17000]**

"No guard!"

"Drive check." Rei revealed her card.

**[Drive Check – Emergency Transport Angel – No Trigger]**

"Damage check."

**[Damage Check – Iris Knight – No Trigger]**

"I end my turn now." Rei said.

**Meredith – Kairu = Emil – Rei**

**5 – 4 – Hand – 5 – 4**

**0 – 2 – Soul – 0 – 1**

**3 – Damage – 2**

**0 – Counterblasted – 0**

**Field:**

**none – none = Million Ray Pegasus – First Aid Celestial, Penuel**

**Broccolini Musketeer, Kirah – Corolla Dragon = Essence Celestial, Becca – Thousand Ray Pegasus**

**none – none = none – none**

**none – Gattling Shot, Barbiel = Knight of Elegant Skills, Gareth - none**

**Clutch Rifle Angel – Fate Healer, Ergodiel = Knight of Elegant Skills, Gareth – none**

**none – none = none – Crimson Lion Cub, Kyrph**

"It's finally my turn!" Meredith huffed. "I draw! Ride, Lily of the Valley Musketeer, Kaivant!" **[Lily of the Valley Musketeer, Kaivant – 9000]**

_From a flurry of leaves appeared a knight dressed in black clothing, decorated with linings of gold. He wielded a large, double bladed spear made from leaves and pines, _

"Kaivant's counterblast. Kirah's retired." She looked at the top four cards of her deck. "I superior call Dandelion Musketeer, Mirkka!"

_A woman with yellow-orange hair covered by a dandelion hat appeared. She had silver armor decorated with yellow petals, and welded a large dandelion puff as a weapon, surprisingly. _**[Dandelion Musketeer, Mirrka – 6000]**

"I shuffle. Call Cherry Blossom Musketeer, Augusto and Water Lily Musketeer, Ruth!" _Two musketeers wearing and welding weapons of nature appeared next to them. _**[Cherry Blossom Musketeer, Augusto – 9000] [Water Lily Musketeer, Ruth – 7000]**

"Ruth attacks Becca! Ruth's skill! She gains 3000 power!" **[7000 + 3000 = 10000]**

"Another Becca guards!"

"Mirrka boosts and Kaivant attacks Becca! Mirrka's skill! Since my deck was shuffled this turn, she gains 3000 power!" **[9000 + 6000 + 3000 = 18000]**

"Because the deck was shuffled?!"

_The angel screamed as the musketeer leapt forth, slashing at her side and cutting part of her outfit, the cloth hanging loosely. _

**[Drive Check – Iris Knight – No Trigger]**

**[Damage Check – Holy Zone, Michael – No Trigger]**

"Augusto attacks! His skill! He gains 3000!" **[9000 + 3000 = 12000]**

"No guard!"

_ The angel screamed again as she was hit across the middle._

**[Damage Check – Medical Gunner, Gabriel – No Trigger]**

"I end my turn." Meredith said.

**Meredith – Kairu = Emil – Rei**

**4 – 4 – Hand – 5 – 3**

**1 – 2 – Soul – 0 – 1**

**3 – Damage – 4**

**1 – Counterblasted – 0**

**Field:**

**none – Cherry Blossom Musketeer, Augusto = Million Ray Pegasus – First Aid Celestial, Penuel**

**Dandelion Musketeer, Mirrka – Lily of the Valley Musketeer, Kaivant = Essence Celestial, Becca – Thousand Ray Pegasus**

**none – Water Lily Musketeer, Ruth = none – none**

**none – Gattling Shot, Barbiel = Knight of Elegant Skills, Gareth - none**

**Clutch Rifle Angel – Fate Healer, Ergodiel = Knight of Elegant Skills, Gareth – none**

**none – none = none – Crimson Lion Cub, Kyrph**

"I-It's my turn. Stand and draw." Emil said and drew his card. "I ride Knight of Superior Skills, Beaumains." **[Knight of Superior Skills, Beaumains – 10000] **_A man with the red and gold armor transformed again, this time with a lion's head design on his chest and a lion symbol on the shield glowed._

"Beaumains?" Kairu looked at the cards on Emil's field, then realized what was coming. "Dang!"

"I activate Kyrph's skill!" Emil said and moved the said card along with Gareth into the soul. He picked up his deck and picked up out a card, took a breath, then held it up.

"Warrior of white-hot flames, burn through the limits of this world! Ride! Incandescent Lion, Blond Ezel!" **[Incandescent Lion, Blond Ezel – 10000] **_The knights disappeared as a glowing warrior with golden hair jumped onto the battlefield, swinging his swords and yelling a battle cry._

_Heh?_ Rekka smiled secretly at the fight. _That boy also uses Ezel. Just like a special _someone _who Kourin's on a date with right now…._ She started snickering to herself.

"I call Holy Mage, Manawydan, and another Gareth!" **[Holy Mage, Manawydan – 10000] [Knight of Elegant Skills, Gareth – 8000] **_Two more knights appeared next to the first._

"Gareth's boost, Manawydan attacks Ergodiel! Manawydan's skill, he gets power plus 2000." **[10000 + 8000 + 2000 = 20000]**

"I guard with Bethnael and Rampage Cart Angel!"

"T-Then, Ezel attacks Ergodiel! Ezel gets power plus 1000 for every Gold Paladin rearguard I have, which is two." **[10000 + 1000 + 1000 = 12000] **_Ezel yelled as he jumped into the air and sliced the angel._

"No guard."

"Drive check."

**[Drive Check – Little Battler, Tron – No Trigger]**

"Second check."

**[Drive Check – Fortune Bell – Stand Trigger]**

"Stand trigger! Manawydan stands and I give the power to him."

"Damage check."

**[Damage Check – Burst Shot, Bethnael – No Trigger] **

"Manawydan attacks Ergodiel again." **[10000 + 5000 = 15000]**

"No guard."

**[Damage Check – Core Memory, Armaros – No Trigger]**

"T-That ends my turn." Emil said nervously. _Did I actually just do that?_

**Meredith – Kairu = Emil – Rei**

**4 – 2 – Hand – 5 – 3**

**1 – 2 – Soul – 4 – 1**

**5 – Damage – 4**

**1 – Counterblasted – 0**

**Field:**

**none – Cherry Blossom Musketeer, Augusto = Million Ray Pegasus – First Aid Celestial, Penuel**

**Dandelion Musketeer, Mirrka – Lily of the Valley Musketeer, Kaivant = Essence Celestial, Becca – Thousand Ray Pegasus**

**none – Water Lily Musketeer, Ruth = none – none**

**none – Gattling Shot, Barbiel = none - none**

**Clutch Rifle Angel – Fate Healer, Ergodiel = Incandescent Lion, Blond Ezel – none**

**none – none = Holy Mage, Manawydan – Knight of Elegant Skills, Gareth **

"I stand and draw." Kairu said. "Shine with the healing power of the universe! I ride Cosmo Healer, Ergodiel!" **[Cosmo Healer, Ergodiel – 10000] **_A man with large, golden armor and two large needle guns appeared._

"Since Fate Healer, Ergodiel's in the soul, Cosmo Healer gets an additional power of 1000! And since I rode Cosmo Healer while Fate Healer's in the soul, I can exchange two cards in my hand with my damage zone." He said, switching two cards with triggers for the last two cards in his damage zone.

"I call Core Memory, Armaros and Burst Shot, Bethnael." **[Core Memory, Armaros – 9000] [Burst Shot, Bethnael – 8000] **_A crazy-looking man with a nurse woman appeared._

"Barbiel attacks Manawydan!" **[10000 = 10000 simple math people]**

"Speeder Hound guards!"

"Clutch Rifle Angel boosts and Cosmo Healer, Ergodiel attacks Ezel! Clutch Rifle's skill, another 4000!" **[10000 + 1000 + 6000 + 4000 = 21000]**

"N-No guard."

"Drive check."

**[Drive Check – Holy Zone, Penamue – No Trigger]**

**[Drive Check – Rampage Cart Angel – Critical Trigger]**

"Critical trigger! Power to Armaros, while the critical to Ergodiel!"

_ The giant angelic man shot his cannon and it collided with Ezel hard, sending explosions everywhere._

"D-Damage check."

**[Damage Check – Blessing Owl – No Trigger]**

**[Damage Check – Gigantic Destroyer – No Trigger]**

"Bethnael boosts Armaros, who attacks Ezel!" **[9000 + 8000 + 5000 = 22000]**

"G-G-"

"Guard!" Rei shouted. "Rocket Dash Unicorn, Million Ray Pegasus!"

_The woman calculated strikes on her computer, which shot at Ezel, but two unicorns appeared at last minute to take the attack instead._

"Tch. Turn end." Kairu said.

**Meredith – Kairu = Emil – Rei**

**4 – 2 – Hand – 4 – 1**

**1 – 2 – Soul – 4 – 1**

**5 – Damage – 6**

**1 – Counterblasted – 0**

**Field:**

**none – Cherry Blossom Musketeer, Augusto = Million Ray Pegasus – First Aid Celestial, Penuel**

**Dandelion Musketeer, Mirrka – Lily of the Valley Musketeer, Kaivant = Essence Celestial, Becca – Thousand Ray Pegasus**

**none – Water Lily Musketeer, Ruth = none – none**

**none – Gattling Shot, Barbiel = none - none**

**Clutch Rifle Angel – Cosmo Healer, Ergodiel = Incandescant Lion, Blond Ezel – none**

**Burst Shot, Bethnael – Core Memory, Armaros = Holy Mage, Manawydan – Knight of Elegant Skills, Gareth **

"T-Thanks Rei." Emil said. "That saved me."

"Don't worry about it!" Rei smiled. "This is a tag fight! We help each other!"

"R-Right."

"Stand and draw." Rei said. "Blue-winged angel of events soon to come, guide the way! I ride Prophecy Celestial, Remiel!"

_Her field glowed in blue as the Celestial transformed into a blond-haired woman in pigtails with large blue wings. She wore a nurses outfit formatted also as battle clothing, and two large weapons perfect for cleaving her way. _**[Prophecy Celestial, Remiel – 11000]**

"Penuel's skill! I move her to the soul and superior call Holy Zone, Michael from my damage zone!"

_A boy with two white wings and a blue outfit decorated with white appeared, a shield on his left arm. _**[Holy Zone, Michael – 8000]**

"I move the top card of my deck to the damage zone." She continued. "Thousand Ray and Million Ray gain 2000 power! And now Michael's skill! Since he was superior called from the damage zone, by counterblasting another card, I choose one face up card in the damage zone, search for another copy of it, and superior call it!"

"You don't have any face up cards left in your damage zone though!" Meredith yelled. "What are you going to do then?"

Rei winked. "I choose Lop Ear Shooter from Emil-kun's damage zone and superior call another one of it to his field from my deck!"

"What?!" All three other players yelled.

_Next to the blazing lion warrior appeared a man in white and gold armor, with a helmet in the shape of two rabbit ears, crouched down and ready to battle. _**[Lop Ear Shooter – 9000]**

Emil stared at her, who smiled. "Sorry, I took a few copies of your cards in case this happened. Now come on!"

Emil nodded slowly. "I-I activate Lop Ear Shooter's skill! I discard a card to look at the top three cards of deck. I superior call Precipice Whirlwind, Sagramore from them!"

_ A boy in gold armor and a large blue and gold bow in his hand jumped onto the field from a gust of wind. _**[Precipice Whirlwind, Sagramore – 6000]**

Emil kept staring. He looked at Rekka. "I-Is that allowed?!"

Rekka shrugged, smiling. "Nothing in the rules against it!"

"Holy Zone, Michael attacks Ruth!" **[8000]**

_The boy swung out the white ribbons wrapped around his arms, which formed into a spear and slashed at the woman, who disappeared._

"Thousand Ray Pegasus boosts, Remiel attacks Kaivant! Remiel's skill lets her gain 2000!" **[11000 + 7000 + 2000 + 2000 = 22000]**

"No guard!"

_ The blonde flew into the air, striking the musketeer right in the middle and slamming him back._

**[Drive Check – Battle Cupid, Nociel – No Trigger]**

**[Drive Check – Fever Therapy Nurse – Draw Trigger]**

**[Damage Check – Four Leaf Fairy – Draw Trigger]**

"Million Ray attacks your vanguard!" **[9000 + 2000 + 5000 = 16000]**

"Tulip Musketeer, Mina guards!"

_ Before the pegasus, flying through the air towards the bioroid could hit, another musketeer appeared in its way, startling it and making it retreat back to its field._

**Meredith – Kairu = Emil – Rei**

**4 – 2 – Hand – 3 – 4**

**1 – 2 – Soul – 4 – 3**

**6 – Damage – 6**

**1 – Counterblasted – 2**

**Field:**

**none – Cherry Blossom Musketeer, Augusto = Million Ray Pegasus – none**

**Dandelion Musketeer, Mirrka – Lily of the Valley Musketeer, Kaivant = Prophecy Celestial, Remiel – Thousand Ray Pegasus**

**none – none = Holy Zone, Michael – none**

**none – Gattling Shot, Barbiel = Lop Ear Shooter - none**

**Clutch Rifle Angel – Cosmo Healer, Ergodiel = Incandescant Lion, Blond Ezel – Precipice Whirlwind, Sagramore**

**Burst Shot, Bethnael – Core Memory, Armaros = Holy Mage, Manawydan – Knight of Elegant Skills, Gareth **

"Stand and draw." Meredith said. "The Bioroids of the Neo Nectar's ultimate weapon, a sword of pure white lilies that blooms across the battle field! Ride, White Lily Musketeer, Cecilia!" _A woman wearing clothes made out of white lily petals and holding a sword made out of crystal and white lilies appeared from a glowing pillar of white light._** [White Lily Musketeer, Cecilia – 10000] **

"Cecilia's skill! I retire Augusto, and check the top five cards of my deck for a Musketeer and superior call." She fanned out the top five cards of her deck, examining them. "I superior call Tulip Musketeer, Almira!"

_From a burst of flowers, the knight burst into red petals, and then turned intoa red-haired musketeer with an outfit of matching color petals. Many green petals decorated the outfit as gloves, a wand and a cape. _**[Tulip Musketeer, Almira – 8000]**

"Not activating Almira's skill. Now I call Lily of the Valley Musketeer, Rebecca! Rebecca's counterblast! I retire Almira to look at the top four cards of my deck," She fanned out the four, "And superior call Water Lily Musketeer, Ruth!"

_A white-haired woman dressed in light green leaves appeared. Next to her, the red-haired musketeer, burst apart into red petals, reforming into the long blond-haired musketeer dressed all in green designs. _**[Lily of the Valley Musketeer, Rebecca – 7000] [Water Lily Musketeer, Ruth – 7000]**

"Cecilia's Limit Break! I counterblast 1 card and return five Musketeers from my drop zone to my deck. Then I superior call two White Lily Musketeer, Cecilias from it!" She yelled. "Summertime Lily Blooming!"

_White lily petals swept across the field, and in the middle stood the white and green dressed musketeer, two exact copies of her standing next to her._

"Ruth boosts, Cecilia attacks Remiel!" **[10000 + 7000 = 17000]**

"No guard."

**[Damage Check – Crimson Mind, Baruch – No Trigger]**

"Mirrka boosts, Cecilia attacks Remiel! Mirrka's skill! Since my deck was shuffled, she gains 3000 power!" **[10000 + 6000 + 3000 = 19000]**

"Adamantine Celestial, Aniel! Perfect guard!" Rei held out the card. "I drop Michael from my hand!"

Meredith frowned. "Twin drive!"

**[Drive Check – Dandelion Musketeer, Mirrka – No Trigger]**

**[Drive Check – Hibiscus Musketeer, Hannah – Heal Trigger]**

"Heal trigger! Power to my last Cecilia! I don't heal. Cecilia! Boosted by Rebecca, attack Remiel!" **[10000 + 7000 + 5000 = 22000]**

"No guard!"

_ The last lily musketeer, leapt forth, striking the blonde angel across the side with her sword._

**[Damage Check – Thousand Ray Pegasus – No Trigger]**

"8 damage…" Rei mumbled.

"I end my turn." Meredith said.

**Meredith – Kairu = Emil – Rei**

**5 – 2 – Hand – 3 – 2**

**2 – 2 – Soul – 4 – 3**

**6 – Damage – 8**

**3 – Counterblasted – 2**

**Field:**

**Water Lily Musketeer, Ruth – White Lily Musketeer, Cecilia = Million Ray Pegasus – none**

**Dandelion Musketeer, Mirrka – White Lily Musketeer, Cecilia = Prophecy Celestial, Remiel – Thousand Ray Pegasus**

**Lily of the Valley Musketeer, Rebecca – White Lily Musketeer, Cecilia = Holy Zone, Michael – none**

**none – Gattling Shot, Barbiel = Lop Ear Shooter - none**

**Clutch Rifle Angel – Cosmo Healer, Ergodiel = Incandescant Lion, Blond Ezel – Precipice Whirlwind, Sagramore**

**Burst Shot, Bethnael – Core Memory, Armaros = Holy Mage, Manawydan – Knight of Elegant Skills, Gareth **

"Stand and draw." Emil said. He took a deep breath. "Blond Ezel, Limit Break!"

"So the limit break's here…" Kairu growled.

"Go Emil!" Leo and Mana yelled together.

"I check the top card of my deck and superior call it! Player of the Holy Axe, Nimue!"

_From a flash of golden light, a girl with short red hair appeared. She had a black top with armor and gloves, and a short red plaid skirt. In her hands was a golden and silver combination of a saxophone and an axe._ **[Player of the Holy Axe, Nimue – 7000] **"Her power is added to Ezels!"

"Nimue boosts, Lop Ear Shooter attacks Barbiel!" **[9000 + 7000 = 16000]**

_The white hare knight jumped into the air, smashing away the angel with one of its lasers._

"Precipice Whirlwind boosts, Blond Ezel attacks! Go!" **[10000 + 6000 + 7000 + 5000 = 28000]**

"No guard!"

"Drive check!"

**[Drive Check – Sleygal Sword – No Trigger]**

**[Drive Check – Weapons Dealer, Gwydion – Draw Trigger]**

"Gwydion! Draw trigger! Power to Manawydan! Draw."

_The lion warrior blazed golden light, charging forwards and smashing into the large angel at full force, knocking them both back from the impact._

**[Damage Check – Heavenly Injector – No Trigger]**

"Sagramore's skill. I drop a card from my hand to draw one card. Manawydan attacks with a boost from Gareth! Manawydan gains 2000 power due to its skill!"

"Guard!" Meredith yelled. "Hibiscus Musketeer, Hannah!"

"I end my turn…" Emil said.

**Meredith – Kairu = Emil – Rei**

**4 – 2 – Hand – 6 – 2**

**2 – 2 – Soul – 4 – 3**

**7 – Damage – 8**

**3 – Counterblasted – 4**

**Field:**

**Water Lily Musketeer, Ruth – White Lily Musketeer, Cecilia = Million Ray Pegasus – none**

**Dandelion Musketeer, Mirrka – White Lily Musketeer, Cecilia = Prophecy Celestial, Remiel – Thousand Ray Pegasus**

**Lily of the Valley Musketeer, Rebecca – White Lily Musketeer, Cecilia = Holy Zone, Michael – none**

**none – none = Lop Ear Shooter – Player of the Holy Axe, Nimue**

**Clutch Rifle Angel – Cosmo Healer, Ergodiel = Incandescant Lion, Blond Ezel – Precipice Whirlwind, Sagramore**

**Burst Shot, Bethnael – Core Memory, Armaros = Holy Mage, Manawydan – Knight of Elegant Skills, Gareth **

"Stand and draw." Kairu said. "Not much to do… Clutch Rifle Angel boosts, Ergodiel attacks Ezel!" **[11000 + 6000 = 17000]**

"Silent Punisher and Weapons Dealer, Gwydion guard!"

"Drive check."

**[Drive Check – Pure Keeper, Requiel – No Trigger]**

**[Drive Check – Critical Hit Angel – Critical Trigger]**

"Critical trigger! Power and critical to Armaros!" Kairu yelled. "Bethnael boosts, Armaros attacks Ezel!" **[9000 + 8000 + 5000 + 22000]**

"Sleygal Sword guards! Lop Ear Shooter intercepts!" Emil said.

"Fever Therapy Nurse tag guards!" Rei added.

"I end my turn." Kairu said.

**Meredith – Kairu = Emil – Rei**

**4 – 4 – Hand – 3 – 1**

**2 – 3 – Soul – 4 – 3**

**7 – Damage – 8**

**3 – Counterblasted – 4**

**Field:**

**Water Lily Musketeer, Ruth – White Lily Musketeer, Cecilia = Million Ray Pegasus – none**

**Dandelion Musketeer, Mirrka – White Lily Musketeer, Cecilia = Prophecy Celestial, Remiel – Thousand Ray Pegasus**

**Lily of the Valley Musketeer, Rebecca – White Lily Musketeer, Cecilia = Holy Zone, Michael – none**

**none – none = none – Player of the Holy Axe, Nimue**

**Clutch Rifle Angel – Cosmo Healer, Ergodiel = Incandescant Lion, Blond Ezel – Precipice Whirlwind, Sagramore**

**Burst Shot, Bethnael – Core Memory, Armaros = Holy Mage, Manawydan – Knight of Elegant Skills, Gareth **

"Stand and draw." Rei said. "Crimson wings spreading through the air, lead the archangels to a flaming victory! I break ride Crimson Impact, Metatron!"

_A silver vanguard circle flashed, and then a woman with large crimson wings appeared in a flash of crimson light. She wore a red-and-black outfit with a large doctor's jacket with long, flowing blue hair and held a wooden spear. _** [Crimson Impact, Metatron – 10000]**

"The breakride's effect! I add one card from my damage zone to my hand, and put one in my damage zone." She said, adding the flipped Emergency Transport Angel to her hand and putting Drill Bullet, Geniel in it. "And Metatron gains 10000 power! Plus since a card was put in my damage zone, Million Ray and Thousand Ray get 2000 more power!"

"Now I call Emergency Transport Angel and Medical Gunner, Gabriel! Emergency Transport Angel's skill. I move Gabriel to my damage zone and superior call Thousand Ray Pegasus from it. Another card was put in the damage zone, so another 2000 power is added to both my Thousand Rays and my Million Ray!"

_A small nurse girl wheeling an emergency cart with nobody appeared, and the boy with black adventurer clothing and a gun jumped onto it. The boy disappeared, and was replaced with another small pegasus, which flew onto the field to meet its friends. _**[Emergency Transport Angel – 6000] [Medical Gunner, Gabriel – 6000] [Thousand Ray Pegasus – 7000]**

"Metatron, Limit Break!" Rei yelled. "Emil-kun, please!"

Emil nodded, and flipped one Gold Paladin in his damage zone over. "Okay!"

"Emergency Transport Angel and Holy Zone, Michael go to my damage zone, and from it I superior call Medical Gunner, Gabriel and Essence Celestial, Becca from it!" She yelled. "Since two cards were just put in the damage zone, Thousand Ray and Million Ray gain 4000 power!"

_The two units glowed silver and disappeared, and in their place appeared the black adventurer boy with a gun, along with western themed angel holding two guns in his hands. _**[Drill Bullet, Geniel – 10000]**

"Woah… she's doing great." Kouichi said. "She's doing really great right now…"

"Million Ray attacks your vanguard Cecilia with Gabriel's boost!" **[9000 + 6000 + 8000 = 23000]**

"No guard!"

_The pegasus charged forwards, striking the Musketeer with the missiles shot by the medical needles on its wings._

**[Damage Check – Black Lily Musketeer, Hermann – No Trigger]**

Meredith frowned. "No trigger…"

"Metatron attacks your vanguard with Thousand Ray's boost! Metatron's skill! She gains 3000 power!" **[10000 + 7000 + 8000 + 3000 = 28000]**

"Night Queen Musketeer Daniel, Corolla Dragon, Augusto, Mina, guard!" Meredith held out the cards.

"Twin drive check!"

**[Drive Check – Million Ray Pegasus – No Trigger]**

"Second check!"

**[Drive Check – Happy Bell, Nociel – Stand Trigger]**

"Stand trigger!" She yelled. "I stand Million Ray and give the power to him!"

_ The woman charged forwards, holding her staff back to strike. In her way appeared four units, absorbing the blow and disappearin_g.

"Million Ray attacks Cecilia!" Rei said. "Powered up!" **[9000 + 8000 + 5000 = 22000]**

"Critical Hit Angel and Fate Healer, Ergodiel guards!"

"Geniel attacks Cecilia with a boost from Thousand Ray! Geniel gains 2000 power due to his skill! Go!" **[10000 + 7000 + 6000 + 2000 = 25000]**

Meredith glared at Kairu, who looked at the last two cards in his hand desperately. "Well, what are you waiting for?! Guard!"

"I can't perfect guard for a tag partner, it's against the rules!" Kairu yelled back.

Meredith glared at Rekka, who smiled at her back pleasantly. "He's right, you can't. It's against the rules."

Meredith growled. "This isn't supposed to be happening! This isn't! I'm supposed to win!"

"Things happen." Rei replied. "I'm pretty good with vanguard and my cards."

"It's still not supposed to happen! I even hired some nerd to make sure you got stuck with the weakest kid you knew! I made sure I would get Kairu as my partner while you got some weakling who didn't even know how to tag fight properly!"

Rei stared at her. "You rigged the partners?!"

Meredith realized what she just said. "Oh! W-Well, uh, maybe, I might have—"

"Y-You….cheated?" Emil asked.

"Yeah, she did." Rekka said, walking up to the middle of the fight, holding a disk between her fingers. "This disk has footage from the security cameras, which caught her bribing some Yellow dork called Karl to help her rig the fight partners. It caught every single word you said." She smiled.

Meredith stared at the disk. "H-How'd you…"

"I have some pretty reliable sources! Fire spreads quickly and covers everything!" Rekka sang. "But come on. Let's finish this fight! But it's pretty much over now, since one of the cards in your partner's hand is a perfect guard, which won't help at all and the second card won't be enough no matter how you look at it! So say it!"

"Kk," Meredith growled. "No guard!" She spat out.

_ The cowboy angel dressed in white used his gun and took aim, firing right at the middle Cecilia and making her scream out as she disappeared._

**[Damage Check – Maiden of Blossom Rain – No Trigger]**

**Meredith – Kairu = Emil – Rei**

**0 – 2 – Hand – 3 – 2**

**2 – 3 – Soul – 4 – 4**

**9 – Damage – 8**

**3 – Counterblasted – 4**

**Field:**

**Water Lily Musketeer, Ruth – White Lily Musketeer, Cecilia = Million Ray Pegasus – Medical Gunner, Gabriel**

**Dandelion Musketeer, Mirrka – White Lily Musketeer, Cecilia = Crimson Impact, Metatron – Thousand Ray Pegasus**

**Lily of the Valley Musketeer, Rebecca – White Lily Musketeer, Cecilia = Drill Bullet, Geniel – Thousand Ray Pegasus**

**none – none = none – Player of the Holy Axe, Nimue**

**Clutch Rifle Angel – Cosmo Healer, Ergodiel = Incandescant Lion, Blond Ezel – Precipice Whirlwind, Sagramore**

**Burst Shot, Bethnael – Core Memory, Armaros = Holy Mage, Manawydan – Knight of Elegant Skills, Gareth **

"I… lost…" Meredith said slowly, the information sinking in. She smacked her hand on the table in anger. "How…"

"Hey." Heiwami said next to her. "You and Kairu are wanted with Brown, so you might want to hurry." Meredith scowled at her, who just cocked her head, looking at the greenette with interest. "You should really work on your angry face, it doesn't look angry enough. There's a lot of more serious angry faces out there, learn from them."

Meredith made a face at her. "Whatever!" She yelled, storming out with Kairu following behind her. Rekka and Heiwami smiled at each other, and Heiwami shrugged. The idol turned back to the two and took the microphone in her hands again.

"The winning couple, Rei Anakisa and Emil Walker!" She yelled. Both of their faces turned red.

"Couple?" They both yelled. "We're not a couple!" Rekka winked at them, and turned back to the audience.

"Give it up for this year's Miss Vanguard Academy, Rei Anakisa!"

The cheering was deafening.

_**-linebreakofsomesort-**_

Rekka walked backstage to her private dressing room. She sighed. "Been so long since I've done that stuff!"

"Well you sure haven't lost your touch." Heiwami said as she walked up to her.

"I guess so! I can't believe the bluff worked! A blank CD! The completely fell for it!"

"Well they did cheat." Heiwami shrugged. "I just couldn't figure out how to record it on the camera. I kept forgetting which button it was."

Rekka sighed. "It's the red one that's labled 'Record'. But still, who thought people would cheat in even this!"

"There are cheaters everywhere. You just gotta figure out how to catch them in the act."

"This coming from you?"

"I've seen a lot of it. Well, in a way. You know what I mean!" Heiwami said, then took another CD out of her pocket and passed it to her. "Give this to him for me, will ya?"

"What am I, your messenger?" Rekka pouted.

"I'm pretty sure things are gonna start soon."

"You mean that?"

"Yeah."

"Hmmm…." Rekka began thinking. "Ah well, I'll get the CD to him! Suiko keeps worrying, so it'll be nice to hear something about what's going on. It's a dangerous project. Disturbances on Cray and all that."

"That's what worries me the most, honestly. Who knows what might happen if this continues. I'll probably find out more later. Until then, tell them I said hi!"

"Sure!"

"Figures you're the one who caught them then." Another girl, with long, light brown hair said as she came up to the two.

"Hey! Been a while!" Rekka said happily. "You seem to be doing really well here!" The girl nodded.

"Why didn't you enter? You would've probably won even with the whole cheating thing going on." Heiwami asked.

"It feels weird, and besides, you didn't enter either!"

"I don't get why girls have to wear swimming suits for boys to gawk at! It makes no sense!"

"Okay okay! As I am both of you two's Sempai, you should listen to me and stop fighting!" Rekka said superiorly, stepping between the two.

"I wouldn't even need to go snooping if you just entered." Heiwami said. "I can't do much so far anyways."

"Oh, I got the solution to that!" Rekka took out a package and gave it to her. "Kai tells you to stop being stupid and just go all out!"

Heiwami stared. "That's…. my deck…"

"The link's slowly breaking down, we're still not completely sure about their plan, and Ren's ace, Phantom Blaster Overlord's gone. There's no more time to mess around here."

"I just…" Heiwami looked at her deck, "didn't want to get them involved."

"And so you're gonna depend on _that_ instead of fighting yourself? That's not gonna work! So like Kai said, get serious!"

Heiwami stuck out her tongue. "Fine then! Fine! But don't blame me when things get out of control!"

"Why would I? It's always funner when things are out of control?"

"Rekka-chan, you really shouldn't say things like that." The brown-haired girl sighed. "You're sounding like the enemy."

"You know what I mean!" Rekka said. "Anyways, have fun with your studies. You, with the plan."

"Have fun with idol and detective work." Heiwami said.

"If we had Mai-chan here, it'd be a Cardfight Circle reunion!"

"Oh yeah! Me, the idol. Mai, the researcher. And you, the top of Vanguard Academy!"

"Can't you two do this some other time?" Heiwami asked.

"Yeah. Bye Heiwami! Bye Emi!"

"Bye Rekka."

"Bye Rekka-chan!"

And then the three females walked away in different directions.

_**-linebreak-**_

_ Dear Tayuya,_

_ Rei won the Miss Vanguard Academy! It turns out Meredith had cheated to try and get more points, but when they got even points, she hacked the tag partners. Can you believe it? Somebody cheating to try and get ahead? What a jerk._

_ And, I'm going to go see the school doctor later, cause I really think I'm gonna need a bit of help with this. I think I saw Metatron, Rei's ace unit, stand behind her at the awarding ceremony. Just like the whole Atlantica thing before. Maybe I need some sort of medication, if this is happening again. Or maybe I just need to bang my head against the wall hard._

_ Leo, the strange second year Red, invited us to an after party for the celebration of Rei winning. No doubt it's going to be a whole bunch of trouble, because he's holding it a night in the forest. A campfire party, apparently. I've been getting really superstitious over fire lately though. This is going to be complicated._

_ Ah, I'm gonna get a headache from this eventually. Anyways, I'll probably just take a long, long nap and wake up, and everything will be back to normal._

_ You're friend,_

_ Kouichi._

* * *

**_Nan man-kai demo makenai kimochi dorō shite__  
__Kagayaku mirai e Ride massuguna kimi ga sukida yo! _**

**_Naitemo waratte mo ichido kiri no shinken shōbu honkidesu hora hibana chirase__  
__Seikai mo riyū mo nakute ī yo yancha-gokoro kattedesu! Tsukande hanasanaikara _**

**_Makezugirai kuyashī toki wa namida shite mata tsuyoku narou__  
__Tsugi no itte wa (hisshō! )__  
__Nan demo ari no (jōkyō! )__  
__Ima kirifuda misete ageru yo _**

**_Nan man-kai demo atsui kimochi dorō shite__  
__Kimi ga omou mama ni Ride don'na sora mo toberu yo _**

**_Genkai toppa de saigo wa makikaesou So Let' s Fight!__  
__Matta nashi ne honki dashite motto saikō no Fight o!_**

* * *

**Me: I haven't changed much around from the original, so some scenes are still the same. That's why it was quicker. Although I have changed parts of the fight around, and there's still a lot to go through. But anyway, Heiwami now has her deck, she needs to stop being stupid, and there will be plot happening next episode/chapter!**

**Astral: And now she will evilly laugh. (sighs)**

**Me: MWA HA HA HA! MWAAAAAA HA HA HA!**

* * *

**Emergency Transport Angel  
**Grade 1 / Angel – Angel Feather / Power: 6000 / Shield: 5000  
AUTO: [Choose one «Angel Feather» rearguard and put it in your damage zone] When this unit is placed on (RC), if you have an «Angel Feather» vanguard, you may pay the cost. If you do, choose one face up «Angel Feather» other than "Emergency Transport Angel" from your damage zone and call it to a (RC).

**Holy Zone, Michael  
**Grade 2 / Angel – Angel Feather / Power: 8000 / Shield: 5000  
AUTO: [Counter Blast (1)] When this unit is placed on (RC) from the damage zone, if you have an «Angel Feather» vanguard, you may pay the cost. If you do, choose one face-up card in the damage zone, search your deck for up to one card with the same name as that unit, call it to open (RC), then shuffle your deck.

**Medical Gunner, Gabriel  
**Grade 1 / Angel – Angel Feather / Power: 6000 / Shield: 5000  
AUTO: [Counter Blast (1) & Put this unit into your damage zone] When this unit boosts an attack's that hits a vanguard, if you have an «Angel Feather» vanguard, you may pay the cost. If you do, choose a face up «Angel Feather» not named "Medical Gunner, Gabriel" from your damage zone, and call it to (RC).

**Thanks to zetis void for creating these cards for me!**

* * *

_Leo: PARTY AT NIGHT!_

_Emil: Wait what?!_

_Leo: Let's have a campfire party!_

_Kouichi: That's…. against school rules…_

_Leo: I don't care! Gather around as we eat smores and tell spooky stories! The story of the ghost ship that haunts this island~_

_Emil: P-P-Please don't!_

_Rei: Who's that over there? And what's at the dock?_

_Emil: The ghost ship is real! I'm too young to die!_

_All: Next time: "Clash in the Pale Moonlight!"_

_Kouichi: It's that fire from before… but even brighter…_

_Heiwami: Um, being out this late is against school rules._


	7. Clash in the Pale Moonlight

**Me: Hello. I'm back. I don't have much time to waste up here, so let's hurry it up and get to the story.**

**Astral: We do not own Cardfight Vanguard, or this would already be season 4.**

**Me: I haven't proofread this so if any mistkaes pop up I'll fix them later.**

* * *

**Cardfight! Vanguard: Cray's Heroes**

"And you're sure we won't be caught?" Kouichi asked Leo for the twentieth time that night. Around ten people were sitting on logs around a campfire in the middle of the forest, at midnight. It would be a disaster if any of them were caught.

"Positive!" Leo yelled, and Mana stiffened next to him. She smacked the back of his head, making him yelp. "What was that for?!"

"If you keep being that loud we will get caught." She said.

"Ah, let him have his fun." Rean said. "This is supposed to be a party."

"Exactly! So both of you stop being so uptight about it!" Leo said to Mana and Kouichi, who glared at him back.

"But still, you didn't really have to do this…" Rei said shyly. Apart from a boy with light blue hair and yellow eyes who was quietly eating smores named Haseo, she was the only Soul Saver Blue there.

"It's celebration!"

"You deserve it after all that bitch did." Mana bit into a smore hard. "Cheating and saying that terrible stuff, she deserved to have garbage duty for a month! She should have it for the rest of the year!"

"Besides, you and Emil did great." Kouichi said. "Here." He passed a smore over to Emil, who took it.

"T-Thanks…" He said, biting down into it. He yelled, accidentally spitting it out and scraping his tongue with his teeth. "Hot hot hot!"

The rest of them doubled over with laughed as Emil despaired. "It's not that funny!"

* * *

_**Vanguard Fight!**__**  
Taiyō no Beam karadajū ni abite  
Stand Up saa Soul Chārge shite hashire  
Vanguard Fight, Ready Go! !  
Ready Go! ! **_

_**Atarashī Generation!  
Makiokose! Revolution!  
Mirai e Navigation!  
Asu o kiri hiraite Break suru **_

_**Ike yo! Perfect janakute mo ī sa  
(Drive Check Vanguard!)  
Tobeyo! Seishun no sora e **_

_**Vanguard Fight!  
Taiyō no Beam karadajū ni abite  
Stand Up saa Soul Chārge shite hashire  
Aiyaiyaiyaiyaiyaiya!**_

_**Vanguard Fight!  
Ride on the wave! Nani mo osorenaide  
Shōri no Card furikazase saa ikou  
Ayaiyaiyaiyaiyaiya!**_

_**Vanguard Fight, Ready go! !**_

* * *

"Okay, let's do something fun!" Leo cheered. "Scary stories!"

Mana smacked the back of his head. "No!"

"Scared? You scared?"

"Of course not! It's just…" Mana looked around. "Emil might get scared! I'm just being nice!"

"Sure you are…" Leo teased her, elbowing her in the side. "You're totally not scared…"

"I told you I am not!"

"So, any of you know any scary stories?" Kouichi said.

"Oh, oh, I got one!" Leo held his hand in the air. Kouichi sighed. Of course he did. "It's the story of the ghost ship that haunts this island!"

"Ghost ship…" Both Emil and Mana paled.

"Sounds interesting. Let's hear it." Haseo said, biting into another smore. Rei nodded. Kouichi shrugged. Why not?

"Okay then! It starts like this!" Leo leaned towards the fire, the flames illuminating his face creepily. "This story takes place in a school. But not just any school, our school! Vanguard Academy!"

"And?" Donavan asked.

"Well, every night, at the harbour of the school, a boat appears. It disappears as quickly as it comes, and reappears every morning, disappearing again." Leo said in a spooky voice. "A cloaked person always goes onto the boat, disappearing and reappearing in the morning. This island was once a graveyard, and that cloaked person is actually the last person who died here on the island, the main building being built over his grave. He now wants revenge on everyone who goes to this academy, and is going to start with the Dragonic Reds…."

Emil squeaked.

"That means you're in danger yourself." Haseo pointed out.

"First year Dragonic Reds!" Leo corrected.

"This is suspiciously sounding like something built just to scare Emil here." Rean said.

"No it isn't!" Leo protested. "It's just a story!"

"Where did you hear a story like that anyways?" Rei asked.

"Oh, some Second Year Blues told me last week." He said. "They were out at night when they saw something at the harbor. Apparently some ghost in a black cloak. They were terrified, but they couldn't tell any teachers or else they would have to admit that they had gone out after curfew! I don't think they'll be okay for a long time! They were shaking really hard."

Just then, a tree next to them shook, and a cloaked figure was visible to Kouichi behind some bushes a few meters away. He froze.

"G-G-G-G-G-G-"

"What?" The rest of them looked where Kouichi was looking, then froze. "G-G-G-G-G-"

"GHOST!" Mana screamed, then fainted dead away.

"THE GHOST SHIP AND THE GHOST IS REAL!" Emil yelled. "I'M TOO YOUNG TO DIE!"

* * *

**Ride 7: Clash in the Pale Moonlight**

The cloaked figure approached them, and everybody began to panic, screaming for help. Why was this happening?! There really was a ghost haunting the island?! This wasn't possible! Kouichi hid behind the log he had been sitting on with Rean, the two of them freaking out silently. Oh, what was he supposed to do, what was he supposed to do?!

"You do realize being out this late is against school rules, right?" The cloaked figure said. Huh? A girl? Kouichi poked his head out. "Jeez, you guys screaming like crazy isn't exactly helping it."

There was only one person who could say that after seeing all that they were doing. Rei stuck her head out too. "H-Heiwami-san?"

The cloaked figure pulled off the hood of the cloak, and shook out her long black hair. She blew out air from her mouth. "Are you guys trying to get caught? Being out this late isn't allowed to begin with. Should I call this one, or maybe even two for yelling so loud. But there isn't anything in the rules about yelling…"

"W-Wait a minute!" Kouichi yelled, standing up. Last time Heiwami had gotten to three, a dude flew into a wall. "Why are you out so late anyways if it's against the rules!"

Heiwami stiffened. She turned away, crossing her arms. "None of your business Kanbara!" She said. "What are you people doing out this late anyways?!"

"Holding a party for Rei and Emil for winning!" Leo said, suddenly recovering from the shock and smiling brightly. "Since she's now Miss Vanguard Academy and everything!" Heiwami blinked.

"Oh. Okay then." She shrugged. "Well, have fun with that." She put the hood of the cloak back on and began to walk away. Wait, seriously? It was over just like that?

"Oi! Wait just a second!" Kouichi yelled, and Heiwami looked at him through the hood.

"What? I'm late for something?" She grumbled.

"You have a lot to explain!" He said. "Why are you sneaking around? How do you know all this stuff about all this, yeah I can tell you know something! And most importantly, what's with that weird fire around you?!"

Heiwami's eyes widened for a second as she stared at him. Her eye twitched. She suddenly glared at him, teeth grinding. "Shut up. Shut up now."

"I'm asking you about it—"

"SHUT UP NOW!" She suddenly grabbed him by the collar, shoving him up up to a tree. "How do you know about the fire. Are you saying you can see it? It's impossible for any human to see it what are you?!" She growled.

"W-What are you talking about?" Kouichi tried to wriggle out of the grip, but she was surprisingly strong, keeping him pinned to the tree. "It's fire, fire surrounding you, there's something weird about that!"

"And there's the problem! Human eyes aren't made for seeing that you're saying you saw it _HOW_?!"

"H-How? I used my eyes! It's around you right now!" The front of his shirt was starting to blacken, hissing from the heat surrounding her. It burnt his chin, the hand near it, and he cringed.

Heiwami glared at him, her eye twitching. She began dragging him away. "We're going to Brown right now and having you shipped off for maybe Chris to study you or something. Maybe he can find something wrong with your brain or something."

"L-Let me go and hear me out for a second!" Kouichi yelled, grabbing the collar so he wouldn't choke. Heiwami paused for a second, then let him go.

"You have 10 seconds." She said. "Starting now."

Kouichi took a deep breath, looking at her annoyed expression. "Cardfight. You, me. I win, you explain. You win, I'll leave you alone. You can even turn us in."

Haseo stared. "Dude!"

"What if you lose?! We'll all be dead!" Rean said.

"Why would I bother agreeing to that." Heiwami replied. "You bore me, it'd be too easy, and honestly, I don't see any reason to."

"If you don't agree, I'll spread rumours about you walking around at night!" Kouichi yelled.

Everybody stared at him.

"Yeah, the teachers are gonna get suspicious, along with all of the other students! Plus there's gonna be a panic going around because a student's breaking curfew!"

"Fine!" Heiwami yelled, surprising them all. "Your funeral, idiot!"

She took out two devices from underneath the cloak, flicked a switch on both of them, and threw one of them at Kouichi. "Here!" He caught it unsteadily.

"What's this?" He said, watching her attach her device to her left arm. He attached it to his. It was a metal device, with a vanguard circle in the middle.

"Vanguard Aegis. For cardfighting mobile." She said, pressing a button on it. It folded apart, into a full vanguard field with six circles instead of one, a strip on the side for damage, a slit near the bottom for the damage zone, and a slot underneath the field where she inserted her deck. It was purple with red trim. His was plain grey. "Well? Move it! I set the functions to hologram, and turned off the shock setting! Should be enough of a handicap for you."

Kouichi made a face, then searched the device for the button, when he pressed it, it popped apart, two circles appearing on the sides of the first, main one for the front row, then the back row appearing, sliding behind it. He took out his deck, then put it inside it. "Okay then… How come I've never heard of these?"

"I've never heard of mobile Vanguard playing devices before." Rei said, with Emil still cowering behind her. "Are they new?"

"Not particularly. Invented two years ago." Heiwami replied, just confusing them all more. "Never released to the public for a good reason. If you wanna survive longer Kanbara, I suggest you don't fiddle around with it."

Kouichi nodded, not understanding. The main circle was the vanguard circle, he could tell that much. They both placed the vanguard down, and stood a distance apart with the others standing on the side.

"Stand up, vanguard!" Kouichi yelled.

"Stand up, the vanguard!" Heiwami yelled.

The two spots in front of them began glowing in a circle, with Kouichi's glowing black and Heiwami's glowing purple. In front of them formed their first vanguards, glaring at each other.

"Master Blacksmith, Dragonan!" Kouichi said, staring as the man dressed in black, oily clothing with a pair of tongs in one hand and a half-made axe in the other hand appeared in front of him. He had unwashed hair, with a large grey beard and moustache. **[Master Blacksmith, Dragonan – 3000]**

"Emerald Beast Tamer." Heiwami said, as an elf with long, curly silver hair appeared from the glowing purple light. She wore a purple leotard decorated with beads, and held a whip made from a green, thorny vine in her hand. **[Emerald Beast Tamer – 5000]**

"Woah… this isn't a motion figure system… but the units are in front of them!" Emil said quietly.

"I've never heard of this before." Rei said. "Something like this existed?"

"Draw." Heiwami drew the card from the device on her arm, and Kouichi thought he saw fire blaze from the card. "This is why you don't fight me when I have my real deck with me. First act, start now!"

Fire erupted around her, and Kouichi had to narrow his eyes just to see what she was doing through the blinding light. None of the others seemed to notice it though, for some reason.

"Cobalt Beast Tamer, enter the field!" She yelled as the girl jumped backwards, and in her place, another tamer with short, straight blue hair and a whip made from dark blue jewels. **[Cobalt Beast Tamer – 7000] **"Emerald moves back. Cobalt's skill activates."

Cobalt Beast Tamer used her whip, drawing a star in the air by cracking it in the shape. A vanguard card appeared in the middle, promptly disappearing along with the symbol.

**[Soul Charge – Amethyst Radiance Tamer – No Trigger]**

"That ends the first act."

"Okay then." Kouichi said, drawing his card awkwardly. This felt really weird and foreign. "I ride Dark Prophet, Elindil!"

The blacksmith walked backwards, and in his place rose up a man wearing dark robes and strange charms around his neck. **[Dark Prophet, Elindil – 8000] **"Dragonan moves back. I call Eager Squire, Dreg and Black Esquire, Ramon!"

A boy holding armour under one arm and a small sword in the other, wearing simple clothing appeared, along with a man in black robes and a bookbag on his side. **[Eager Squire, Dreg – 6000] [Black Esquire, Ramon – 7000]**

"Dragonan boosts, Ramon attacks Cobalt! Dragonan's skill! He gains 3000!" **[7000 + 3000 + 3000 = 13000]**

The dark robe wearing man ran forwards and punched the blue-haired tamer across the face, making her fall back. Heiwami held the side of her face for a second before damage checking.

**[Damage Check – Alter-Dimera Tamer, Tarah – No Trigger]**

"Dreg boosts, Elindil attacks Cobalt Beast Tamer! Dreg's skill! He gains 4000 since I have more rearguards than you!" **[8000 + 6000 + 4000 = 18000]**

The prophet chanted some words, and a branch broke off of a tree near them, nearly hitting Emil in the head as it flew towards the tamer, hitting her in the stomach before dissolving apart in dark light.

**[Drive Check – Leon the Bandit – No Trigger]**

**[Damage Check – Hypnotizing Beast Tamer of Hades – No Trigger]**

Heiwami breathed heavily for a second before looking at her Aegis. "Even on its lowest setting… you can still feel it…"

"Dragonan returns to my deck. I end my turn."

**Kouichi – Heiwami**

**4 – Hand – 5**

**0 – Soul – 1**

**0 – Damage – 2**

**0 – Counterblasted – 0**

**Field:**

**none – Black Esquire, Ramon = none – none**

**Eager Squire, Dreg – Dark Prophet, Elindil = Cobalt Beast Tamer – Emerald Beast Tamer**

**none – none = none – none**

"Second act, starting now." Heiwami said. Her eyes narrowed, and fire began racing around the area, bursting everywhere. "Ride the Vanguard! Avatar of the apocalyptic flames, burn everything in this world to ashes! Crimson Beast Tamer!" **[Crimson Beast Tamer – 8000]**

From the fire sprung out an elf with long silver hair, curling up at the end. She had a revealing purple leotard on, with a see-through frilly skirt. There was long red gloves and boots on her arms and legs, and a whip made of pure flames, flickering as she whipped it all around. The tree behind Heiwami caught on fire, and Leo yelled in surprise as some flames fell near him.

"Woah! That's way too real!" He yelled.

"Sunstone, Quartz, call." She said, ignoring the side comments as two more tamers, each with a whip of sparkling jewels rose up. **[Sunstone Beast Tamer – 9000] [Quartz Beast Tamer – 7000]**

"Emerald Beast Tamer, skill activate! I counterblast and look at the top three cards of my deck, adding one of them to the soul." She fanned out the three cards. "I add Amethyst Radiance Tamer to my soul."

**[Soul Charge – Amethyst Radiance Tamer – No Trigger]**

"Sunstone Beast Tamer attacks Elindil!" **[9000] **The blond-haired tamer lashed out with her yellow whip, striking the prophet across the chest, knocking him back.

Kouichi yelled in pain as he held his chest. There was a searing pain there for a second, before slowly dying away. "Damage check." He said, placing the card on the strip.

**[Damage Check – The Knight of Lies, Dramon – No Trigger]**

"Sunstone's skill. Soul charge. I unflip one card in my damage zone."

**[Soul Charge – Crimson Beast Tamer – No Trigger]**

"Emerald boosts, Crimson Beast Tamer! Strike down Elindil!" Heiwami yelled. "I have another Crimson in my soul, so she gains 3000 power!" **[8000 + 5000 + 3000 = 16000]**

"No guard!" Kouichi yelled. The fire around them grew brighter, and he began sweating from the heat. It twisted, forming a huge whip which struck down Elindil from the side, with Crimson Beast Tamer guiding it with her hand. Elindil yelled in pain, half of his cloak burning away to nothing.

**[Drive Check – Alter-Dimera Tamer, Tarah – No Trigger]**

**[Damage Check – Reaper of Souls, Haradrim – Critical Trigger]**

Kouichi screamed, grabbing his side which was steaming. He gasped, feeling the raw, burnt flesh underneath his jacket. Then when he pulled up his shirt to check, there was no injury there as the pain subsided. "C-Critical and power to Elindil." He said quietly.

"Emerald's skill! When she boosts an attack that hits, I choose the card I sent to the soul with her skill and superior call it! Amethyst Radiance Tamer, come to the field!"

The green-wearing tamer disappeared, and a tamer wearing a leotard studded with gems and a whip of pink crystals appeared. She cracked it, a pure note resonating through the air from it, then disappeared in a poof of smoke.

"Amethyst Radiance Tamer, counterblast. Persona Caller, activate." She said. "I retire her, then search my deck for one Fantasy Diamond Radiance Tamer, Saquier and add her to my hand. Now Quartz attacks Ramon! Quartz's skill! Since I have a vanguard with Tamer in its name, she gains 3000!" **[7000 + 3000 = 10000]**

"D-Dark Priest, Ledom guards!" The tamer's pure white crystal whip was stopped by a small priest appearing in it's past, muttering a chant which formed a barrier.

"That end my second act." Heiwami bowed down. "I can't wait for the third."

**Kouichi – Heiwami**

**3 – Hand – 5**

**0 – Soul – 4**

**2 – Damage – 2**

**0 – Counterblasted – 2**

**Field:**

**none – Black Esquire, Ramon = Quartz Beast Tamer - none**

**Eager Squire, Dreg – Dark Prophet, Elindil = Crimson Beast Tamer – none**

**none – none = Sunstone Beast Tamer – none**

"Well, it's your turn. Go." Heiwami said, the fire flickering around them brightly. Kouichi held his side, breathing heavily.

"Kouichi-kun? What's wrong?" Rei called.

"It's like he got hurt by the attack." Emil said. "But how…"

"Do you give up? Can I stop wasting my time?" Heiwami asked. She heard a chuckle, and her eyes narrowed. Kouichi laughed, and laughed, standing up straight.

"That's really cool! It's a bit like you're the units themselves!" He said. "This is really cool! A new way to cardfight!"

"Cool… You called this cool…" Heiwami muttered.

"No way I'm giving up! This is too cool!" Kouichi yelled. "Stand and draw! I ride The Black Knight, Morgarath!"

In front of him, the shadows seemed to gather around his vanguard as it transformed into a knight dressed in plain black armour. There was a large black sword in his hand, along with a sword and dagger at his belt, ready for battle. Shadows flickered around, gathering under the flames in a strangely comforting fashion. **[The Black Knight, Morgarath – 9000]**

"Morgarath loses 2000 for being the vanguard, but by moving Ramon to the soul, he gains 3000 for this turn!" He yelled, the squire disappearing, it's shadows adding to the ones already there. "Now I call The Knight of Emptiness, Shapur and Grazel, the Missionary!"

Two more knights appeared on his field, ready for battle. **[The Knight of Emptiness, Shapur – 10000] [Grazel, the Missionary – 8000]**

"Grazel attacks Crimson Beast Tamer!" He yelled, the military clothing dressed man racing forwards.

"Sunstone, guard." Another copy of the yellow gem wielding tamer appeared in its path, the collision making both of them disappear.

"Morgarath attacks with a boost from Dreg! I have more rearguards than you, so that's 4000 more power!" **[7000 + 3000 + 6000 + 4000 = 20000]**

"Hypnotizing Beast Tamer of Hades. Perfect guard." An elf dressed in mystical, shimmering clothing and holding a pendulum appeared, swinging it back and forth. The knight stopped in its tracks, walking backwards after seeing it. Kouichi frowned.

"Drive check."

**[Drive Check – Eager Squire, Dreg – No Trigger]**

"Shapur attacks Crimson Beast Tamer!" The knight dressed forwards, void of all expression as it sliced at the tamer across the arm with its daggers. Heiwami winced slightly, damage checking.

**[Damage Check – Cobalt Beast Tamer – No Trigger]**

"I end my turn." Kouichi said.

**Kouichi – Heiwami**

**2 – Hand – 2**

**1 – Soul – 4**

**2 – Damage – 3**

**0 – Counterblasted – 2**

**Field:**

**Grazel, the Missionary – The Knight of Emptiness, Shapur = Quartz Beast Tamer - none**

**Eager Squire, Dreg – The Black Knight, Morgarath = Crimson Beast Tamer – none**

**none – none = Sunstone Beast Tamer – none**

"… hey. Did you know?" Heiwami said quietly, although being completely clear. "How many people have been damaged, injured, suffered, cried, screamed, and corrupted by these devices?"

Kouichi blinked. Huh?

"And yet, you're calling this _cool_? _Cool_?" Her eyes flashed dangerously, the fire rising. "You should be cowering! And yet, you're calling this cool?! How cool do you think this is!" She drew her card fiercely. "Get swept away in the burning wave of dimensions, and lose yourself amongst the gap between worlds! Ride the Vanguard!"

Suddenly, the entire field rippled, and they were all transported to a place with no ground or sky. Portals and different planets appeared in different places around them over and over, disappearing as quickly as they came. They all floated in midair, with Emil freaking out, Leo finding it cool, and Rean upside down. In the middle of the field, or what seemed to be the middle, a swirling vortex appeared out of the ground, and an elf with long silver hair and a huge black cape sprung out. She held an ordinary whip, and when she cracked it, two huge chimera beasts appeared out of portals around them. "Alter-Dimera Tamer, Tarah!" The beasts roared, sending Kouichi's field back. **[Alter-Dimera Tamer, Tarah – 11000]**

"Let's see if you still think this is _cool_." She spat out the last word. "Tarah attacks Morgarath! Tarah's skill, she gains 1000 and I can soulcharge 1 card!"

**[Soul Charge – Fantasy Diamond Radiance Tamer, Saquier – No Trigger]**

"Six cards in my soul! The circus now goes to the next level!" Heiwami yelled.

"What?!" Kouichi took a step back in midair as the elf charged towards him, commanding the two beasts to strike at Morgarath. They both bit his sides, making him backwards. Kouichi yelled in pain as he fell backwards, his shoulder burning.

**[Drive Check – Fantasy Diamond Radiance Tamer, Saquier – No Trigger]**

**[Drive Check – Topaz Beast Tamer – Critical Trigger]**

**[Damage Check – Black Esquire, Ramon – No Trigger]**

**[Damage Check – Dark Priest, Ledom – Stand Trigger]**

"Power to Morgarath… I stand Shapur…"

"Sunstone attacks Morgarath! Sunstone's new skill! Since I have more than six cards in my soul, she gains 3000 power!" **[9000 + 3000 = 12000] **

"F-Field Medic, Graak guards!" Kouichi yelled as the blond tamer leapt into the air, cracking her yellow whip and smashing it into the newly appeared doctor, making him yell in pain before disappearing.

"Quartz. Attack Shapur." Heiwami said, the elf dashing past her and striking the knight with her whip. **[7000 + 3000 + 5000 = 15000]**

"Third act, end." She said. "So, is this still fun?"

**Kouichi – Heiwami**

**1 – Hand – 4**

**1 – Soul – 6**

**4 – Damage – 3**

**0 – Counterblasted – 2**

**Field:**

**Grazel, the Missionary – none = Quartz Beast Tamer - none**

**Eager Squire, Dreg – The Black Knight, Morgarath = Alter-Dimera Tamer, Tarah – none**

**none – none = Sunstone Beast Tamer – none**

Kouichi breathed heavily, holding his stomach to try and stop himself from throwing up. "Well?! I _said_, IS THIS STILL FUN?! GETTING HURT OVER AND OVER?!"

Kouichi took in a deep breath. "I don't know what happened… or why you're like this…. But these could be really fun…"

Heiwami stiffened, biting her lip and holding herself back. "WHAT IS WITH YOU?! THINKING SOMETHING LIKE THIS—"

"That's not what I mean!" Kouichi yelled. "These could really make a cardfight fun, feeling the same pain your vanguard does, really bonding with them! But just using it to inflict pain, that just doesn't seem right!"

He drew his card, trying to ignore the fire burning his skin. "O King and god, your dark knights await! I ride the King and God of the Dark Ones, the Shadow Knight!"

Morgarath held his sword in the air as shadows swirled around him, transforming into a man covered head to toe in black armor, made of nothing of this world. There was a a huge sword made of black metal in his hand, which seemed effortlessly light in his hands. The shadows swarmed around him, making him seem larger in size than he actually was. **[The King and God of the Dark Ones, The Shadow Knight – 11000]**

Kouichi looked at the field and at his hand. _I guess I have to play it defensive right now. _"Dreg boosts, The Shadow Knight attacks Tarah!" **[11000 + 6000 = 17000]**

"No guard." Heiwami said calmly.

"Drive check."

**[Drive Check – The Knight of Lies, Dramon – No Trigger]**

**[Drive Check – Reaper of Souls, Haradrim – Critical Trigger]**

"Critical trigger!" He yelled.

"Don't forget the pathetic effects of your own card." Heiwami said. "You're forbidden from powering up your own vanguard. You've been limiting yourself the entire time, staying stuck in your own world without ever bothering to look outside it. What's the end result of you barricading yourself in your own world, never ever being able to break through your own limits? You being unable to do anything now."

Kouichi looked down at his Vanguard Aegis. "… critical and power to Grazel…"

The knight swung his sword, intending to slice across the middle of the elf, although she stepped back into a portal, disappearing from sight. The sword sliced apart her two pet chimeras, which disappeared and were quickly replaced by two more that jumped out of portals, one carrying Tarah on its back. She smiled, the attack having done no real damage.

**[Damage Check – Jade Beast Tamer – Heal Trigger]**

"Power to Tarah. I don't heal." She said.

**Kouichi – Heiwami**

**3 – Hand – 4**

**2 – Soul – 6**

**4 – Damage – 4**

**0 – Counterblasted – 2**

**Field:**

**Grazel, the Missionary – none = Quartz Beast Tamer - none**

**Eager Squire, Dreg – The King and God of the Dark Ones, The Shadow Knight = Alter-Dimera Tamer, Tarah – none**

**none – none = Sunstone Beast Tamer – none**

"So. Answer me something." Kouichi looked at Heiwami, whose face was light up by the fire flickering next to it. "Stuck in that little shell, being unable to do anything, don't you ever find it sad? Have you ever realized how weak you really are?"

"Hey! You have no right to call me weak!" Kouichi yelled.

"I have every right. I saw your opening fight. You thought you were doing so well." She frowned. "You annoy me. Naïve people like you who think they can achieve something the way they are now annoy me. Annoying, annoying, it's so annoying. You're so annoying! The one thing you should never do is annoy me! Final Turn!"

"What?!" Kouichi yelled.

"So, it's over this turn?" Leo said.

Rei looked at the field. "It pretty much is." Haseo nodded in agreement.

"Hey, did you know," Heiwami said, "There's a world that even goes past breaking limits. One so dangerous regular people haven't been able to get there without extreme power from both outside and within. Do you want me to show you a little bit of this world?"

She drew the top card of her deck, then held one in the air. "When the world is enveloped in darkness, the radiance that shines through will call people to the tent. The one who can command the light to find people is here, center stage. Fall into the dream, and fantasize a world where there's no such thing as limits! Our circus is infinitely powerful! Break Ride!"

Tarah waved goodbye as the two chimeras next to her turned into pillars of light, swirling around her. The light burst apart, blinding the field and everyone in it as a huge, purple vanguard circle flashed in the air.

At Vanguard Academy's main office, Principal Brown looked outside to see the large pillar of light in the middle of the forest. He sighed. "Who decided to challenge her anger her enough to use that card?"

A ring of fire flickered around a new tamer with long, black hair down to her ankles. She wore asymmetrical black clothing articles, lined with silver. There were long, silver boots with the toe and heel sparkling, along with a whip made out of what seemed to be pure diamonds, too delicate to move. A diamond flower was embedded in her hair, along with a star next to her eye. The world flickered around them, growing fuzzy and hard to focus on as she cracked her whip, colors swirling around them like a kaleidoscope. "Tamer of light and dreams. Fantasy Diamond Radiance Tamer, Saquier." The elf smiled with contempt, and lashed out with her whip, setting it ablaze with fire. **[Fantasy Diamond Radiance Tamer, Saquier – 11000]**

"The Break Ride's effect! Saquier gets 10000 more power, along with a skill!" She yelled. "Quartz moves back. Call! Aquamarine Beast Tamer, Cobalt, and one more Quartz." Three more tamers, one with a whip made of water crystals, and the other was a blue-haired tamer with the dark blue whip, and the third being a copy of the pure white one near her. **[Aquamarine Beast Tamer – 8000] [Cobalt Beast Tamer – 7000] [Quartz Beast Tamer – 7000] **"Cobalt's soulcharge."

**[Soul Charge – Topaz Beast Tamer – Critical Trigger]**

"I'll skip on Aquamarine's skill. Now, do you want to see it? The world where limits don't even begin to exist?" She said quietly. "Do you want to take a little glimpse out of your world, and into the real one?"

Kouichi frowned. "Why don't you just try it then!"

"Don't say I didn't warn you." Heiwami said, holding another card into the air. "Welcome to the main attraction of the Finale. Circus Tamer Liberation! Personification Break, Soul Edition!"

"Personification Break?!" Emil stared. "W-What's that…"

"It's the next level of the Persona Blast." Rei said quietly. "Having another one of yourself where you can accept it, and then discarding a copy of yourself to unlock new powers. Personification Break. Extremely rare."

"And that's hers." Rean said. "Woah."

"Since I have a copy of Saquier in my soul, by dropping a mirror of herself down, I unlock new powers!" Heiwami yelled, the card fluttering down to the drop zone. "Counterblast 1. Now for this turn, all of my Tamers get 3000 each time a unit's called to the rearguard from the soul!"

"What?!" Kouichi took a step back in shock. _ Okay, that's a crazy skill. But she hasn't called any from the soul. As long as it's like that, I'll be fine. Hope for no critical and I'll be fine._

"Quartz boosts, Sunstone Beast Tamer attacks the Shadow Knight!" **[9000 + 7000 + 3000 = 19000]**

"Reaper of Souls, Haradrim guards!"

"Cobalt boosts, Saquier attacks the Shadow Knight! Break ride skill, activate!" She yelled. "I move Sunstone to my soul, and from it, call my avatar again! Crimson Beast Tamer!"

The tamer dressed in yellow turned into a ball of flames, which reshaped into an elf with long silver hair, a small leotard, and a whip of fire. **[Crimson Beast Tamer – 8000]** "She gains 3000 due to her skill, and 5000 due to the breakride's. And now all of my units get 3000 more power! Go, Saquier!" **[11000 + 10000 + 7000 + 3000 + 3000 = 33000]**

The world around them flickered again, and Kouichi was suddenly standing on a bright, circus stage, spotlights shining on him. The diamond elf looked at him, smiled, and then her whip lashed out, wrapping around his vanguard and throwing him down to the ground like some rag doll, effortlessly. He screamed in his head, refusing to let it go to his mouth, and could only watch in horror as his vanguard was repeatedly lashed at with the diamond whip, striking him all over. He doubled over, holding his middle and sides to try and stop the pain.

"Twin drive." Heiwami said.

**[Drive Check – Agate Beast Tamer – Draw Trigger]**

"Draw Trigger. Power to Crimson, and I draw one card. Second check."

**[Drive Check – Hypnotizing Beast Tamer of Hades – No Trigger]**

"D-Damage… check…" Kouichi took a quick gasp of air, before grabbing his top card and putting it on the damage zone. He sighed in relief when he saw it.

**[Damage Check – Field Medic, Graak – Heal Trigger]**

"Heal trigger! I heal one card, and the power goes to my vanguard." He said.

Heiwami seemed unfazed. "Cobalt's new skill. I counterblast 1, move her to the soul, and from it, superior call another Amethyst Radiance Tamer to replace my rested Quartz!"

_The blue-haired tamer disappeared, and then the white one next to where it used to be glowed pink, splitting off into two with one of them disappearing and the other taking her place, glowing the same color as her pink crystal whip. _ **[Amethyst Radiance Tamer – 7000]**

"Another one!" Mana said. "That means…"

"I won't activate Amethyst's skill right now. Although…" Heiwami said. "Personification Break's effect! All of my units get 3000 more power! Quartz boosts, Aquamarine attacks! Oh, did I mention? Quartz's hidden skill is that she gains 2000 whenever a unit is called from the soul!" **[8000 + 7000 + 6000 + 6000 + 4000 = 31000]**

"No guard." Kouichi cringed, bracing himself for impact. The tamer cracked her whip, a wave of water crashing down into him and his vanguard as he yelled.

**[Damage Check – Grazel, the Missionary – No Trigger]**

"Crimson, let's end this." Heiwami said. The silver-haired elf nodded, fire erupting in a circle around her. Kouichi's eyes widened. That was it. That was the fire he constantly saw around her. He didn't know how, but it was this specific fire. Not any regular one, but this one. And this fire was the last thing he saw before he blacked out as it raced towards him. **[8000 + 3000 + 5000 + 6000 + 7000 + 3000 = 32000]**

**[Damage Check – The King and God of the Dark Ones, the Shadow Knight – No Trigger]**

**Kouichi – Heiwami**

**2 – Hand – 5**

**2 – Soul – 8**

**6 – Damage – 4**

**0 – Counterblasted – 4**

**Field:**

**Grazel, the Missionary – none = Aquamarine Beast Tamer - Quartz Beast Tamer**

**Eager Squire, Dreg – The King and God of the Dark Ones, The Shadow Knight = Fantasy Diamond Radiance Tamer, Saquier – none**

**none – none = Crimson Beast Tamer – Amethyst Radiance Tamer**

The units around them faded away, as Kouichi collapsed to the ground, his body covered with burn markings. The others ran to him, as Emil checked his pulse.

"I-I can feel something!" Emil said.

"He's breathing too!" Rean said, holding his hand over Kouichi's mouth. "Oh come on! How does this even happen?!"

Rei stared at the Vanguard Aegis. She tore it off of his arm and threw it behind her, and Heiwami caught it. "That was mean! How could you do that?!" She screamed at her, tears beginning to come out.

"He asked for it. What's the problem?" Heiwami asked. "It's just a few side effects, although he seems to have took more than regular people. Weird." She shrugged. "I'm late already, thanks for giving it back. I won't tell, although the end of the fight was disappointing."

She looked at Kouichi, who was still unconscious, and sighed. "He's weird." And then Heiwami disappeared into the woods, putting the hood back on her head.

_**-linebreak-**_

"Hey hey, did you hear about the weird beam of light last night?"

"It woke me up! What was that?!"

"It came from the forest, didn't you see it?"

"Oh man that was bright!"

Heiwami walked down the hallway of the school, listening to the students whisper and move aside when they saw her. She inwardly sighed. Idiots. Jeez. Although maybe she did lose it a little last night. That was pretty stupid. No, nope, no it wasn't. It was all that Kanbara's fault.

And she had been late. Oh that got them real pissed off at her. She got the whole 'don't be late' speech again and it bored her to pieces.

Now where was that idiot Macy…

"You're late." She looked up to see Stephan standing at the main entrance of the school with his arms crossed, although he didn't look angry. "I expected this though."

Heiwami scowled. "Can we just get this over with? I'm missing out on my afternoon nap."

They walked into the forest, not far from where the cardfight had happened last night. Stephan got out some papers and read over them. "So far, your essays and writing assignments show that you have the spelling, grammar, and vocabulary of someone around the age of 7. Your math skills are behind too, and you have virtually no knowledge of science and history. You were asked one class to explain the concept of gravity, and according to this note, you responded 'Who cares, as long as the sun doesn't squash us I'm good.' Can you see why your academic skills are a bit of a concern?"

"Not really." She responded, lying down on the ground and closing her eyes. She yawned.

"Do you know anything about the strange light last night?" He asked.

"No idea at all Macy."

Stephan looked at her and sighed. "I don't see why you're hiding it if you know something, but I'll respect your personal space. You heard how Kouichi Kanbara, a Vermillion Yellow, was hospitalized with first degree burns, right?"

"Yeah, it's all over the place. Who doesn't?"

"Some friends of his dragged him to the hospital in the middle of the night, sometime after the light. It's connected, meaning something happened last night with the light to get him like that."

"So? None of my business."

"You're a strange girl, you know."

"Okay." Heiwami shrugged. "Are we done for today? I'm sleepy."

Stephan studied her. He lay down on the grass opposite to her. "Why not. I could do with a nap as well."

He heard some light snoring, and lifted his head to see her already asleep. He smiled. "Strange girl."

_**-linebreak-**_

_ "Did you hear? Your old friend Kouichi's been up to some trouble." A girl dressed in a purple uniform and the craziest, colourful hair ever said, lounging on a sofa. She spoke in a strange accent, making all of her words come out mysteriously._

_ "It's all over campus. That idiot has no idea what he's doing half of the time." A guy responded, typing on a computer. "Ugh, these stupid reports. Why do they bother assigning homework here anyways?"_

_ "It's to 'make sure you understand' the material." The girl responded. "I don't see why you do it. I mostly just force a random kid to do it for me in exchange for some money."_

_ "I gotta keep up the image of 'Fourth Best Fighter' here, so I have to do the stupid stuff." The boy said. "Print. There. Done." He closed the laptop, then leaned back in his chair. "So, what is it you wanted to talk about?"_

_ "Operation Cray." _

_ "What, are they finally starting phase 2 of it?"_

_ "Of course, and then they've got the four of us to do it."_

_ The boy snorted. "Keji's still unable to move around properly for more than two hours at a time without equipment, and Night's who knows where, slacking off. We're just there to handle any threats on this island, and there isn't going to be any, since no one knows about it."_

_ "Precautions are precautions. You've monitored the school for some time, put in some names, and the upcoming tournament will just give us more opportunities. Thunder and Scarlet will know their places."_

_ "And yet you lost to both of them." The guy chuckled, and the girl glared at him._

_ "Never mention it."_

_ "Okay then Sammie, or would you rather me refer to you as Fortune still?"_

_ "I don't care _Knight_" She stressed the name. "Or would you rather me refer to you as Kimnara?"_

_ "Who cares? We're the only ones here." Kimnara looked around his room, one of the best Soul Saver Blue dorms. "Just monitor the tournament, give results, and cause some chaos."_

_ "That is something all of us are good at."_

_ "Well then," he stood up and opened the window, the cold night air rushing in, "Team Pluto's set to go."_

* * *

_**Nan man-kai demo makenai kimochi dorō shite  
Kagayaku mirai e Ride massuguna kimi ga sukida yo! **_

_**Naitemo waratte mo ichido kiri no shinken shōbu honkidesu hora hibana chirase  
Seikai mo riyū mo nakute ī yo yancha-gokoro kattedesu! Tsukande hanasanaikara **_

_**Makezugirai kuyashī toki wa namida shite mata tsuyoku narou  
Tsugi no itte wa (hisshō! )  
Nan demo ari no (jōkyō! )  
Ima kirifuda misete ageru yo **_

_**Nan man-kai demo atsui kimochi dorō shite  
Kimi ga omou mama ni Ride don'na sora mo toberu yo **_

_**Genkai toppa de saigo wa makikaesou So Let' s Fight!  
Matta nashi ne honki dashite motto saikō no Fight o!**_

* * *

**Me: Welp, Cray Heroes Ride 7 is done. I was aiming to stage this later but, well, things happen and I didn't have any ideas for fillers. Plus I didn't wanna write fillers. They annoy me.**

**Astral: The next ride has more plot. **

**Me: Thanks to all my friends at the Vanguard Academy forum for helping me work out the Personification Break and the Persona Caller! Love you guys!**

**Astral: Figuratively.**

**Me: I still love you guys! All my readers! Review, and see you next time!**

* * *

**Name: Haseo Rouge  
Age: 16****  
Hair: Neck length light blue hair  
Eyes: Pale yellow eyes  
Clothes: Soul Saver Blue jacket zipped up with dark green denim jeans and white shoes.  
Rank: Second Year Soul Saver Blue  
Personality: He's usually quite calm, and speaks formally to just about everyone. He likes reason, and not doing things on whim. He does care about his friends, while not showing it though.  
Fun Facts: He doesn't like sweets, rain, dancing, and black olives. He fails at telling jokes.  
Creator: Black Chains of Abyss**

* * *

_(The following Pale Moon units were created by me. The concept of Personification Break was also created by me)_

**Emerald Beast Tamer  
**Grade 0/Elf – Pale Moon/4000 Power/10000 Shield  
AUTO: **Pioneer** (_When another unit from the same clan rides this unit, you may call this card to_ (RC))  
ACT [R]: [Counter Blast (1)] Look at up to three cards from the top of your deck, search for up to one card with "Tamer" in its card name from among them, move it to your soul, and shuffle your deck. When this unit boosts an attack that hits, you may move this unit to your soul, and superior call the unit you moved to your soul with this skill.  
_"The whip of thorns signals the start of the circus!"_

**Citrine Beast Tamer  
**Grade 0/Elf – Pale Moon/5000 Power/10000 Shield/Critical Trigger  
_"Precision is my specialty." _

**Topaz Beast Tamer  
**Grade 0/Elf – Pale Moon/4000 Power/10000 Shield/Critical Trigger  
ACT [Soul]: When your vanguard is being attacked, if you have a «Pale Moon» vanguard, and you do not have any cards in your hand, you may call this card to (GC) as [Rest].  
_"We'll strike from all angles."_

**Agate Beast Tamer  
**Grade 0/Elf – Pale Moon/5000 Power/5000 Shield/Draw Trigger  
_"Keeper of the cages, that's me!"_

**Jade Beast Tamer  
**Grade 0/Elf – Pale Moon/5000 Power/10000 Shield/Heal Trigger  
_"We're beautiful tamers with whips that command the gem beasts."_

**Cobalt Beast Tamer  
**Grade 1/Elf – Pale Moon/7000 Power/5000 Shield  
AUTO [R]: When this unit is placed on (VC) or (RC), if you have a «Pale Moon» vanguard, you may Soul Charge (1).  
CONT [V/R]: If you have six or more cards with "Tamer" in its name in your soul, this unit gets: "AUTO [R]: [Counter Blast (1) & Put this unit into your soul] When an attack hits during the battle that this unit boosted, if you have a «Pale Moon» "Tamer" vanguard, you may pay the cost. If you do, choose a «Pale Moon» other than a card named "Quartz Beast Tamer" from your soul, and call it to (RC)."  
_"That's good, come closer. Don't worry, the beasts won't bite."_

**Quartz Beast Tamer  
**Grade 1/Elf – Pale Moon/7000 Power/5000 Shield  
AUTO: When this unit attacks, if you have a vanguard with "Tamer" in its card name, this unit gets [Power]+3000 until end of that battle.  
CONT [V/R]: If you have six or more cards with "Tamer" in its name in your soul, this unit gets: "AUTO [V/R]: When a «Pale Moon» is placed on (RC) from Soul, this unit gets Power +2000 until end of turn" until end of turn.  
_"The Tamers of the Pale Moon specialize in all sorts of tricks."_

**Hypnotizing Beast Tamer of Hades  
**Grade 1/Elf – Pale Moon/6000 Power/0 Shield  
CONT: **Sentinel **_(You may only have up to four cards with "CONT: Sentinel" in a deck.)_  
AUTO: [Choose a «Pale Moon» from your hand, and discard it] When this unit is placed on (GC), you may pay the cost. If you do choose one of your «Pale Moon» that is being attacked, and that unit cannot be hit until end of that battle.  
_"Watch the pendulum. Turn back now. It's bad news to oppose our circus."_

**Amethyst Radiance Tamer  
**Grade 1/Elf – Pale Moon/7000 Power/5000 Shield  
CONT: **Persona Caller **_(You may only have up to four cards with "CONT: Persona Caller" in a deck.)_  
AUTO: [Counter Blast (1) – unit with "Tamer" in its card name, retire this unit] When this unit is placed on (VC) or (RC), if you have a «Pale Moon» "Tamer" vanguard, you may search your deck for one unit with "Fantasy Diamond Radiance Tamer, Saquier" in its name, reveal it to your opponent, and put it in your hand.  
_"Let's light up the field with our act!"_

**Sunstone Beast Tamer  
**Grade 2/Elf – Pale Moon/9000 Power/5000 Shield  
AUTO [V/R]: When this unit's attack hits a vanguard, if you have a vanguard with "Tamer" in its card name, choose a card from your damage zone, turn it face up, and Soul Charge (1).**  
**CONT: If you have six or more units with "Tamer" in its name in your soul, this unit gets this skill: "AUTO [R]: When this unit attacks, if you have a vanguard with "Tamer" in its card name, this unit gets [Power] +3000 until end of that battle."  
_"Light can blind the truth of the circus from the watchers."_

**Aquamarine Beast Tamer  
**Grade 2/Elf – Pale Moon/8000 Power/5000 Shield  
AUTO [R]: [Counterblast 1]. When this unit is placed in (VC) or (RC), if you have a «Pale Moon» vanguard, you may pay the cost. If you do, search your deck for up to one «Pale Moon» with "Tamer" in its name, put it in your soul, and shuffle your deck.  
CONT: If you have six or more units with "Tamer" in its name in your soul, this unit gets this skill: "AUTO [R]: [Counter Blast (1) & Put this unit into your soul] When this unit's attack hits, if you have a «Pale Moon» vanguard, you may pay the cost. If you do, choose a «Pale Moon» other than a card named "Quartz Beast Tamer" from your soul, and call it to (RC)."  
_"Be careful of the seats near the water, they could be deadly!"_

**Alter-Dimera Tamer, Tarah  
**Grade 3/Elf – Pale Moon/11000 Power  
AUTO: **Limit Break 4 **_(This ability is active if you have four or more damage)_: When a «Pale Moon» rides this unit, you may choose one of your Vanguards, that unit gets [Power] +10000, and gets "AUTO [V]: [Choose 1 of your «Pale Moon» "Tamer" rear-guards, and put them into your soul] When this unit attacks a vanguard, you may pay the cost. If you do, choose 1 «Pale Moon» with "Tamer" in its name from your soul, and call it to (RC). That unit gets [Power]+5000 and gets 'AUTO: [Move this unit to Soul] When this unit's attack hits or boosts an attack that hits, if you have a «Pale Moon» "Tamer" vanguard, you may pay the cost. If you do, choose a «Pale Moon» "Tamer other than that card from your soul, and call it to (RC).'" until end of turn.  
AUTO [V]: When this unit attacks a Vanguard, you may Soul Charge (1), and this unit gets [Power] +1000 until end of that battle.  
CONT [V/R]: **Lord** _(If you have a unit that doesn't belong to the same clan as this unit, this unit cannot attack)  
"We're a circus, we don't need limits!"_

**Fantasy Diamond Radiance Tamer, Saquier  
**Grade 3/Elf – Pale Moon/11000 Power  
ACT [V]: **Personification Break Soul 4** _(This ability is active if you have four or more damage)_ _(This ability is active if you have one copy of this card in your soul and your hand):_ [Counter Blast (1) – Card with "Tamer" in its card name, Choose a card named "Diamond Radiance Tamer, Saquier" from your hand, and discard it] All of your «Pale Moon» units get [Power] +3000 for every unit called from the soul until the end of your turn.  
AUTO [V]: [Counter Blast (2) – Cards with "Tamer" in its card name] When this unit attacks a Vanguard, you may pay the cost. If you do, move three «Pale Moon» rearguards with "Tamer" in its name to the Soul. Then choose up to three «Pale Moon» with "Tamer" in its name from your soul, and call them to separate (RC). If three units were called with this skill, your Vanguard gets Critical +1 until the end of your turn.  
CONT [V/R]: **Lord** _(If you have a unit that doesn't belong to the same clan as this unit, this unit cannot attack)  
"Even a diamond's brilliance doesn't stand a chance against me! I'm the star of the circus!"_

* * *

_(The following Shadow Knight units were originally created by littleblackwing, revised by me)_

**Master Blacksmith, Dragonan**  
Grade 0/Human – Shadow Knights/Power 3000/Shield 5000/Draw Trigger  
AUTO: When another «Shadow Knights» rides this unit, you may call this card to (RC).  
AUTO [R]:When this unit boosts, the boosted unit gets [Power]+3000 until end of that battle, and at the beginning of the end phase of that turn, return this unit to your deck, and shuffle your deck.

**Dark Prophet, Elindil**  
Grade 1/Human – Shadow Knights/Power 8000/Shield 5000

**Black Esquire, Ramon**  
Grade 1/Human – Shadow Knights/Power 7000/Shield 5000  
ACT [R]: [Put this unit into your soul] If your Vanguard is "The Black Knight, Morgarath", you may pay the cost. If you do, that unit gets Power +3000 until end of turn.

**Grazel, the Missionary**  
Grade 1/Human – Shadow Knights/Power 8000/Shield 5000

**Eager Squire, Dreg**  
Grade 1/Human – Shadow Knights/Power 6000/Shield 5000  
AUTO [R]: When this unit boosts a «Shadow Knights» vanguard, if the number of rear-guards you have is more than your opponent's, the boosted unit gets Power +4000 until end of that battle.

**The Black Knight, Morgarath**  
Grade 2/Human – Shadow Knights/Power 9000/Shield 5000  
CONT [V]: This unit loses -2000  
AUTO [V]: [Counterblast 2, retire one rearguard] If this unit's attack is successfully blocked, you may pay the cost. If you do, superior ride one "The King and God of the Dark Ones, the Shadow Dragon" from your hand in rest position.

**The Knight of Emptiness, Shapur **  
Grade 2/Human – Shadow Knights/Power 10000/Shield 5000

**The King and God of the Dark Ones, the Shadow Knight**  
Grade 3/Abyss Dragon – Shadow Knights/Power 11000  
CONT [V/R]: If you have a non-«Shadow Knights» vanguard or rear-guard, this unit loses 2000 power.  
CONT [V/R]: You cannot give trigger effects to this card.  
AUTO [V]: If this unit's drive check reveal's a stand trigger, this unit gains +2000 power.

* * *

_Kouichi: Strength… am I really… not the tiniest bit strong…_

_Emil: K-K-Kouichi?! Are you alright?!_

_Kouichi: I don't know…_

_Rei: Well, cheer up! Everything will be fine! Oh, I heard about this special class they're having especially for vanguard training! _

_Emil: It's supposed to be really tough though…_

_Vayle: Oh that class! You might wanna avoid that class… Tough doesn't begin to describe it… It's reduced third years to tears in seconds…_

_Leo: What kind of class is that?!_

_All: Next time, "Tough Training, Suck it Up"_

_Kouichi: T-This class…_

_Heiwami: Operation… Cray…_


	8. Tough Training! Suck it up!

**Me: Whazzup! I don't own Cardfight Vanguard! I'm done this chapter! Halleluyah! Is that how you spell it I don't know! I actually don't have much to say and I'm not letting Astral say anything so yeah there we go onto the chapter!**

* * *

**Cardfight! Vanguard: Cray's Heroes**

"_Tayuya. Tayuya! Tayuya! Tayuya!" A boy cried, sobbing uncontrollably. He had to be around 9 or 10 years old, and sat in a chair next to a hospital bed, with a boy one year older than him lying in the bed, bandaged and bruised and broken roughly. Other than the crying, the room was strangely quiet, and the beeping noises from the machine next to the injured boy resonated throughout the entire room. _

"_Tayuya! Please! Stay with me!" The boy in the seat cried over and over, gripping Tayuya's hand tightly. Tayuya squeezed back with all of his strength, which wasn't much, smiling at him._

"_Don't let it… get to you…." He said, his voice hoarse and rough. "You'll get… stronger… and keep fighting… It'll be… fine… You'll get stronger… even without me around…"_

"_Tayuya! Don't say stuff like that! You're going to make it! T-The doctors, t-they'll do something!" The boy yelled. "Please don't leave me! I-I knew I should have listened to you! I'll listen to you from now on, so please don't leave me alone!" Tayuya gave him a small, sad smile._

"_Don't worry… my death's," he coughed, blood spraying onto the bedsheets, "not, your fault…" Then his hand dropped and he closed his eyes, breathing out for the last time._

_The little boy stared at Tayuya's body in horror, tears streaming down his face. "TAYUYA!"_

_**-linebreak-**_

"TAYUYA!" Kouichi screamed, sitting up and looking around. White sheets, white bed, white walls, the infirmary? He gripped his head, breathing heavily. That dream, no, it wasn't right to call it a dream, that memory again? Why, why, _why_. Why did it still haunt him, after all those years?

He looked at his arms, covered in bandages. Heh, bandages. Just like how Tayuya had looked—

He grabbed his mouth shut, eyes going wide as he tried to stop the bile from rising in his throat. Oh no, please no, not that again. He managed to swallow it down, before looking around the room again, trying not to panic. Infirmary, hospital. Hospital, hospital bed. Hospital bed, hospitalized person. Just like back then—

NO! Now was not the time! He let go of his mouth, breathing in deeply. Okay, it was fine, it was fine.

"K-Kouichi! Are you alright?!" Emil yelled as he and Rean ran in. Kouichi looked up at them, blinking. Emil. Rean. Huh?

Memories of what had happened last flooded to him, and his eyes widened. Fire. Fire. There was fire. There was fire, and it was burning him, and the fire was everywhere. It was everywhere. Oh my god, it was everywhere and he couldn't escape it and it was chasing him and they were chasing him—

—and he was in the corner of the card shop again, the flames burning all around as he cowered from the oncoming thugs, Tayuya standing in front of him trying to protect him, as the fire burned and burned and burned and the thugs punched and kicked and hit and all he could do was cower, he was powerless and all he could do was watch as his best friend was burnt and kicked and beat and there was the knife, there was the knife glistening with red as Tayuya fell and it came towards him, the blade was coming close it was getting closer to him he had to get away now before

"KOUICHI!" Kouichi blinked, breathing heavily before closing his mouth. Emil was shaking him hard, and he snapped out of it.

"Dude, what happened?!" Rean asked, panic evident. "You looked at us, then started hyperventilating and screaming!"

"What's the matter?!" Emil asked him.

Kouichi looked down at his hands. They were shaking. Why were they shaking? Was he scared? What was he scared of? "W-Where's my deck?" He said.

"It's on the desk." Emil pointed at the black deck case. Kouichi grabbed it and held it close, breathing deeply.

_Sorry Tayuya, it seems like I haven't gotten stronger at all…_

* * *

_**Vanguard Fight!**__**  
Taiyō no Beam karadajū ni abite  
Stand Up saa Soul Chārge shite hashire  
Vanguard Fight, Ready Go! !  
Ready Go! ! **_

_**Atarashī Generation!  
Makiokose! Revolution!  
Mirai e Navigation!  
Asu o kiri hiraite Break suru **_

_**Ike yo! Perfect janakute mo ī sa  
(Drive Check Vanguard!)  
Tobeyo! Seishun no sora e **_

_**Vanguard Fight!  
Taiyō no Beam karadajū ni abite  
Stand Up saa Soul Chārge shite hashire  
Aiyaiyaiyaiyaiyaiya!**_

_**Vanguard Fight!  
Ride on the wave! Nani mo osorenaide  
Shōri no Card furikazase saa ikou  
Ayaiyaiyaiyaiyaiya!**_

_**Vanguard Fight, Ready go! !**_

* * *

"Okay, just make sure you don't strain your body too much, and you'll be fine." The nurse said to Kouichi, who nodded. "You can go now. Come back if it starts hurting again."

Kouichi stood up, and began walking out of the infirmary. He walked down the halls slowly. He had been in there for a week, asleep for half of the time. Wow, he was delicate. And wow, he did not want to be delicate. It sucked. Especially since the mere thought of that would bring in a whole bunch of unwanted memories again.

He hadn't thought about that incident in, what, four years? Four years. Wow, it had been four years. Four whole years…

"Oh my god you guys! Never, _never, __**NEVER **_go to that Advanced Vanguard Training class they offer as an extra course!" He heard one guy say. Advanced Vanguard Training?

"Oh I heard about that! The instructor was so strict two students quit the academy in the span of one week!"

"Man, that sounds scary!"

"Scary doesn't even begin to describe it! It's terrifying! I'm glad I managed to drop out safely!"

"Hey, what's this Advanced Vanguard Training class?" Kouichi asked the bunch of boys. "Is it possible to sign up for it now?"

The boys stared at him in shock. "D-Do you have a death wish?!" One of them said.

"No." Kouichi said, getting confused. "I heard you talking about it. It's probably a bit of an exaggeration about what the class is like…"

"I'm not joking that class is crazy tough and mentally scarring!" Another guy yelled.

"I just want to try it out."

"Forget it! We're not going to be responsible if you end up in the hospital!" The guy yelled, and the boys ran away.

Ugh. Kouichi sighed and looked at a poster on the wall. Advanced Vanguard Training. Someone had scribbled over the poster in a large black sharpie that said 'NEVER JOIN IF YOU WANT TO LIVE'. These kids really over exaggerated too much. That was ridiculous. It was just a class!

* * *

**Ride 8: Tough Training! Suck it Up!**

"Whatchya looking at?" Kouichi jumped, and turned around to see a silver-haired Blue peeking over his shoulder. "Oh, the Advanced Vanguard Training class?"

"V-Vayle? What are you doing here?" He said.

"I fell asleep. And woke up when you were talking with those guys. You probably shouldn't join that class." Vayle replied. "It's a bit, extreme."

"You too." Kouichi sighed. "What is it with all of the kids here?"

"You heard those guys back there. I had to oversee one of the classes. A girl ran out in tears." Vayle said. "I had to chase her down in the girl's bathroom and go out on a fake date with her to get her to calm down. And then we got severely chewed out by Kazumi, who didn't appreciate it one bit. I think she wanted to tear out the girl's hair or something. It was intense." He scratched his head. "But, that's what happened. Chaos happens in that class."

"Where do you join?"

Vayle stared at him. "You weren't listening?"

"Look, you're the second best fighter in the school, so I believe you. But I just really feel like I need to get stronger. I can't stay like this. I need to figure out how to get stronger, and maybe this'll help."

He sighed. "The course selection room. Type it in the computer, and fill out the form. Then it'll get sent to the instructor and, well, that instructor accepts everyone. So you just go to the class in the classroom next to the gym tomorrow at 2 pm."

"Thanks." Kouichi said. "I'll be going now."

"You do that…" Vayle laughed nervously. As soon as Kouichi left the hallway, Vayle bolted for the Principal's office.

"Hey, Overlord Brown!" He said. The principal looked up from his papers and sighed.

"Yes Vayle?"

"Um, why do we have an Advanced Vanguard Training class here to begin with?"

Principal Brown stiffened. "Because I needed some way to grade her other than academics. This would work."

Vayle stared. "Oh my god."

_**-linebreakofsomesort-**_

"I still cannot believe you Overlord!" Vayle said at the meeting, with around twenty people sitting around a large table in a meeting room.

"Are you still upset about that Vayle?" Emi asked. "It's a bit ridiculous. This kid Kouichi will be able to handle himself."

The girl was 16, with long, light brown hair and a Soul Saver Blue outfit. Emi Sendou was now the top student at Vanguard Academy, in both grades and fighting skills.

"I'm just saying—"

"Vayle. Please be quiet." Kazumi said, a dark aura coming off of her. He shut up immediately and sat back down. Kazumi had never really gotten over the fight that she had lost… "Principal Brown, please continue."

"The school cardfight with us against one of our rival schools, the Vanguard SIT Division, is coming up. So we need to choose someone." Principal Brown said.

"Just send Vayle again. He'll win, and we can get this over with." A rather muscular boy with spiky brown hair, green eyes, and a Soul Saver jacket over a t-shirt with a picture of a demon on it. The Sixth best fighter in the school, Allen Wiggin.

"We can't always depend on Vayle-san, can we?" Charity said quietly. She was a fair skinned girl, small for her age of 16, and powerful for the ninth best fighter. She had short, thin black hair and light grey eyes, along with the basic girl's Soul Saver Blue uniform. "We should find someone new to fight against them."

"Especially since they decided to insult us and choose their 5th best fighter to face us." Samantha said. The seventh best fighter in the school, known for her crazy hairstyle, strange accent, and quick temper, Samantha had pale greenish-blue eyes and a Soul Saver Blue girl's uniform that got dyed purple in an accident nobody knew about.

"Oh please, we can take them easily." Kimnara sighed. There was barely any information in any of his records at all, except he was a great cardfighter. Fourth best at the school, wearing typical Soul Saver Blue clothes and a military haircut through his black hair, Kimnara was by far the most mysterious kid at the school. He was also the only person able to call Samantha 'Sammie' without setting off her anger. He never socialized with anyone, and made it up to Fourth Best with alarming strength.

"I'll agree with Kimnara on this one. We'll be able to take them!" Kite said. It was a known fact throughout the school that he was not fond of Kimnara one bit, mainly because Kimnara never talked about what had happened to the Fifth Best, who had happened to be his best friend. The tenth best fighter at the school, with green eyes and a Soul Saver Blue jacket, was just energetic enough to get on Kimnara's nerves all the time.

"So, how are we going to decide?" Kazumi asked Principal Brown. The principal thought about it.

"We'll draw for names." He said. Allen blinked.

"Are you serious." He said as Brown began typing in commands to his computer, and a hat showed up on the screen behind him, at the front of the room. 9 names were put in, and the hat was shown shaking. Then one name flew out of it.

"Congradulations! Samantha Cosgrove will be representing us at the Cardfight Between Schools!" He announced.

Samantha stared. "Oh bugger." She said.

_**-linebreak-**_

Kouichi looked up at the door to the classroom, with a sign taped over it that said 'Avace Vanguard Turanin'. He blinked. "Is… that supposed to be Advanced Vanguard Training?" Either it was spelt really badly or this was some Latin vanguard class.

He shrugged. He didn't have anything to lose anyways. He pushed the door open, and went inside.

"Oi! You the new student who signed up?!" A girl yelled. A girl? Kouichi blinked, all the bright lights in the small classroom temporarily blinding him. He focused on the girl who had just yelled at him.

"Well Kanbara? You just gonna stand there or are you going to sit down and actually do something productive in this class, cause I'm about to start it." Heiwami said. Heiwami…

"Y-You're the teacher?!" He yelped.

"Damn right I am." She replied.

Memories of what had happened the last time he had seen her began flooding back, and he thought he was about to have another panic attack before she smacked the back of his head, making all thoughts leave him.

"Dude, don't space out on me. That's rude." She said. "Come on, I gotta start class."

Kouichi looked around the classroom. They were the only ones there. "Where are the other students?" He asked.

"Dunno. They all dropped out after one or two classes. The longest lasting one was, like, three or something. Until he broke an arm. That was stupid of him. Your socks are weird by the way. They're black." Heiwami said.

Kouichi blinked. "Right…"

"Ten laps."

"Huh?"

"I_ said_," Heiwami stretched the word, "Ten laps. Move it Kanbara."

"A-Around the room?"

Heiwami sighed. "Pile of idiots. Ten laps around the school building. Go."

"Are you serious?!" Kouichi gaped at her. Ten laps around the entire school?! Just one running lap would take an hour! 45 minutes if you ran fast!

"Yeah I'm serious. I said go." She said, reaching forwards and swiping his deck from his side, ignoring his protests. She pointed at the door. "You get your deck back when you're done the laps. Well? We're wasting daylight here. GO!"

Kouichi scrambled out of the door, running as fast as he could. She couldn't be serious. But, he might as well run until she realized it.

Stephan walked into the room, and blinked. "Empty classroom." He said.

"I just sent Kanbara for 10 laps around the school." Heiwami said. He stared at her.

"Each lap takes around an hour if you _run_." He said.

"And?"

"Do you know what 10 laps times 1 hour each equals?"

"Oh, wait! I think I know this one!" Heiwami yelled and grabbed her head. "Okay, um, ten times one… but then there's laps times hours… uh… how did that work again?"

"Ten times one is ten, since any number times one will be unchanged. Laps times hours translates to laps per hour. He'll be able to do one lap per hour, and there are ten. It'll take ten hours."

Heiwami blinked. "Oh. I thought he'd be done in two hours or something."

"You were way off there." Stephan checked his blue watch. "It's noon now. He'll be done by 10 pm, if he actually somehow runs all those laps."

"Wow. That's long." She muttered. "So that's why they always come back at around midnight, well, those who survive…"

"You assigned too much."

"No I didn't. He'll be just fine. Anyways, help me with my English homework now Macy."

_**-linebreak-**_

Oh gods, that Heiwami really was insane. His lungs were burning, and he had only managed to run half a lap so far! What was with her?!

_"Ten laps. Move it Kanbara."_

Ugh. He stopped and leaned against the school building, panting heavily. This, was, ridiculous! How was _anyone_ going to ever run 10 laps?!

"Kouichi-kun?" He turned to see a silver-haired Blue girl standing there, looking at him with confusion. A bunch of other girls followed behind her, whispering to each other as they eyed him. "What are you doing?

"R-Rei…" Kouichi took in a deep breath, then spoke again. "I signed up for a new, insanely crazy class, where the so called '_teacher_' is making me do ten laps around the school as the first activity."

The group of girls stared at him. "Are you serious?" One of them said.

"Unfortunately, yes…" He panted.

"You know, you could just quit and hang somewhere for a while, then go back later and say you ran them!" Another girl said.

"Yeah, that makes so much more sense!"

"Just skip, the teacher will never know!"

"I think… the teacher will know… plus she took my deck and won't give it back until I do all of the laps…"

"That's stupid, just say you did the laps, and then you'll get back your deck!"

Kouichi blinked. Cheat? It had actually not occurred to him to cheat. Now that he thought about it, it was seeming more and more logical to cheat in a situation like this. Heiwami was insane, she'd never know, and he'd get his deck back with little problem in a few hours. He could just skip.

"Sorry, but I can't. I'm just going to do the laps, work hard at it, and then get my deck back properly." He said, the words coming out without him even realizing it. Wait, what was he saying?

"Workaholic much." A girl mumbled.

"Good luck with that then." Rei said. "It's cool that you're trying so hard! Keep trying! Are you sure you're able to though, after, what happened…" She said carefully, hoping he would catch on and nobody else.

"Yeah, I'm fine now." Kouichi looked at a bandage on his arm, covering a burn mark. "It doesn't even hurt anymore. I'll be great."

"Have fun training!" She said. "Well, running. Have fun running."

"Yup. Bye!" Kouichi waved and began running again.

He could have just stopped and given up, and made things so much easier on him. He could have just stopped right there and gone off to relax, and Heiwami would have never known.

So why didn't he?

_**-linebreak-**_

"…and 'Unfortunately' has a prefix and a suffix in it. Can you figure out the base word then?"

"Um… un's the prefix… and tely's sorta like the thing that tells you it's, um, I dunno how you describe it but it's a suffix, I think! So then you're left with 'Fortuna', which is Misaki's card and I find it really amusing, but I think you can make it into 'Fortune'. So the base is 'Fortune'?"

"Yeah. Can you figure out what 'unfortunately' means then?"

"Okay, so… un means not… so not fortune…. But then the 'tely' at the end means—"

"I-I'm… b-back…." Kouichi managed to say as he entered the room before collapsing onto the ground. Heiwami stood up and glared at him.

"Aw come on! I was just about to figure out what 'unfortunately' means!" She whined. Stephan sighed, then stood up from his chair and picked up Kouichi by the arms, laying him out on one of the empty tables. He pushed a bowl of rice and meat next to him, with a pair of chopsticks on top of it, then went back to Heiwami.

"That's actually the record time for somebody coming back after actually doing all ten laps." Heiwami said, drinking another cup of hot chocolate and sighing. "Ah, that's nice… Now, what's the next word?"

_**-linebreak-**_

When Kouichi woke up, the first thing he noticed was his growling stomach. He smelt food next to him, and grabbed the pair of chopsticks to begin eating. It was a plain meal, but it tasted _so_ great since he was starving from running all those laps. His deck was next to him, and he grabbed it in desperation as he shoved the rice into his mouth.

"Seems like you're hungry." He jumped a little to see a Blue with brown hair and glasses looking down at him. "Only natural after you ran all of those laps."

"W-Who are you?" Kouichi said nervously, holding his deck closer to him.

"Stephan Masterson. Nice to meet you." Stephan held out his hand to Kouichi, who shook it slowly.

"Wait, Masterson. As in Masterson Corporation?" Masterson Corporation was probably the biggest and richest company he knew! They produced everything, from cards to motion figure systems to gloves to cooking supplies to furniture!

"Don't mention that stupid company!" Heiwami yelled from the table next to them, trying to do some math problems. The two boys leaned away, and began whispering instead.

"Yeah, that Masterson." Stephan replied softly.

"Woah. So you're, what, a millionaire?"

"Technically my dad's a multi-millionaire, but yeah." He shrugged.

"Why are you here then? Did you sign up for the class too or something?" Kouichi then glared at him. "Did you skip on the laps? Cause that is not fair I ran all ten of them!"

"Dude, calm down. I'm not in the class."

"So why are you here?"

Stephan glanced at Heiwami, who was now violently biting the end of the pencil like it was beef jerky, then leaned in towards Kouichi further. "Principal Brown asked me to be her babysitter, basically. She doesn't know. She thinks I'm her annoying tutor."

Kouichi stared at him, then at Heiwami, then back at him. "She needs a babysitter?!" He yelled as quietly as he could.

"Apparently she gets into trouble, so I'm in charge of hopefully getting her out of it." Stephan said. "She's an interesting girl, so it's an interesting job."

"Interesting doesn't even begin to describe her…" Kouichi mumbled, then went back to eating.

"Oi Kanbara! Once you finish that food we get to Lesson 1!" Heiwami yelled from her table. "Macy, I finished the Math Sheet! Check it!"

"Sure." Stephan said, then walked over to her and began checking over the paper, explaining to her where she had made mistakes and annoying her quite a lot. Kouichi blinked. W-Why not. He sighed, then went back to eating.

_**-linebreak-**_

"Start with the basics. Spread out your entire deck and arrange them." Heiwami said to Kouichi, them standing on opposite sides of the large table.

"I thought this was Advanced Vanguard Training, not the basics."

"Look, usually I would fight the kid, then tell them how they're doing and then decide where to start off, but you remember the fight we had, and you really need a good dose of the basics. So do it."

Kouichi stiffened, then grumbled. He spread out his deck, arranging each unit apart so each unit was separate from the others.

"Okay, now, who's your main." Heiwami said.

"The Shadow Knight." Kouichi replied without thinking. It was and had always been for as long as he remembered with this deck.

"And what units do you have to support it and its skills."

"Oh, well, I have stand triggers to boost its power—"

"Which, since you spread out your deck, we can plainly see you only have four of. How do you call that support?"

Kouichi paused. "Um, because it supports the skill—"

"To a small extent. What else do you have."

"T-That's… it…"

Heiwami sighed. "Knew it. This is why you need the basics."

She walked over to the chalkboard, and smacked it with her hand, making him cringe slightly. "What's the focus of the Shadow Knights clan! Explain right now!"

"O-Overcoming your own vanguard's weaknesses with your other units to turn that weakness into strength!"

"And where are examples of this in your deck?!"

"Ramon helps Morgarath—"

"For one turn! Then it goes back to its base of 7000 on the vanguard circle! What else?!"

Kouichi stopped. "T-That… might be… it…"

"And that is why you are failing." Heiwami said. She took a piece of chalk and began drawing pictures on the board. "Explain how the Shadow Knights came to be!"

"Well, the Shadow Knights are a force of the United Sanctuary who travel around all of Cray, protecting anyone who needs it. They're a group of knights who decided to band together and help others."

"The Shadow Knights were the awkward children who didn't fit in anywhere when they grew up." Heiwami said. "Because they didn't have proper friends or grow up like regular children, they had many weaknesses when they tried to become knights and fight for the United Sanctuary. As the awkward knights grew, being unable to truly fit in anywhere, they naturally felt upset.

"One day, Morgarath decided to bring together some others he had seen who were like him. They tried fighting together as a team, which worked out much better than separately, because each of their weaknesses accounted for another's strength, and together they were able to cover up everything they thought they were lacking. One person's weakness lead to another's strength, and another person's weakness would be covered by another's strengths. Weakness becomes strength if they're all together in the exact way they want. They travel around all of Cray, doing anything they do. As a result, they're the only clan without a Nation, since they don't settle down anywhere."

Kouichi gaped at her. "Oh, um… yeah….that…"

"Your deck isn't anywhere near the Shadow Knight standard. I don't see any strategies formed, or forethought into later games, or counters against the regular used gaming, or balance of skills in general. Are you even trying to accomplish anything with this deck?"

"Um, well, I,"

"Change it. Find strategies. This thing is getting you nowhere so far! It's a pile of mish-mash, not a deck!"

"Hey!" Kouichi yelled, then stopped and looked down at his cards. "I…"

"Well, what do you have to say for this deck."

"I don't want to change it!"

It was Heiwami's turn to blink and look at him in wonder.

"I know it's hopeless, I know I can't do anything with it, I know this isn't working at all together, I know I'm ignoring everything a Shadow Knight deck should be, I know these cards don't work! I just really don't want to change my friend's deck!" He yelled, tears almost coming. "It's the last thing I have of him, and I know it's stupid but I don't wanna change it! I've been convincing myself I can get as strong as him, stronger than him, so I used his deck and took out the cards that reminded me too much of him, even though they were the main units in strategy! I just want to show him I am strong, and I can get stronger than him! Even though it's hopeless!"

"H-Hey, it's alright." Stephan said, patting his back and not knowing what to say to that. "Um, don't worry. You'll be able to prove to your friend that you're strong someday."

"No I won't!" Kouichi yelled, this time tears coming out.

"Why not? If you work hard I'm sure—"

"I won't be able to because he died five years ago!"

_**-linebreak-**_

After that, Stephan spent the rest of the night calming Kouichi down. He gathered up his deck and gave it back to Kouichi. Heiwami had sat in the corner, looking out the window and refusing to speak to both of them. She was frowning, occasionally gnashing her teeth together angrily at something.

Eventually, Kouichi stood up and began leaving the classroom, holding his deck tightly. "Oi, where do you think you're going?"

He turned around, only to have a bag thrown at him, and he caught it awkwardly. "W-Wha—"

"That's a bag of Shadow Knight cards. Look them over. Try and see if you come up with anything new. I'm not saying you need to change that deck of yours, I'm saying just find some basic strategies to discuss." Heiwami said, still not looking at him. "Class begins at noon sharp tomorrow. Don't be late."

Kouichi blinked sleepily, then nodded and walked out of the room.

"You didn't have to be so harsh with him!" Stephan said to Heiwami after Kouichi left.

"Yeah I did. That's how I do stuff." She responded, still not looking at him. "Anyways, just pass me a laptop. I have to check something. Something to do with Kanbara's story."

Stephan frowned, but passed her a laptop charging in the corner. Heiwami opened and began typing on it, biting her lip as she frowned at the screen. She pressed a button, opened a file, and froze, eyes widening.

"What?" Stephan leaned over her shoulder to look at the screen, and froze as well. "Oh… my god."

"I hate that dad of yours." Heiwami said, still looking at the screen.

"That is perfectly understandable."

_**-linebreak-**_

"You survived the Advanced Training Class?!"

"Oh my gosh what happened in it?!"

"Are you dropping out? Is it actually as tough as it seems?!"

Kouichi ate another bite of the sandwich in front of him before pushing it away. Despite running all those laps, and that the meatball sub he was having for dinner was delicious, he didn't feel hungry anymore. Being bombarded with questions from his fellow dormmates wasn't helping.

"I'm… not feeling so well. I need to go to my room." He said, standing up and leaving behind the students, who all stared at him. Kouichi pushed open the door of his room and looked at it, with its plain bed and dresser and desk and chair and a window and closet. It looked nice, but not polished or fancy at all. Bit like his deck.

He sat down on the carpeted floor, and began spreading out his deck again. "No strategy, no forethought, no counters, no balance." He muttered. "What am I doing with this deck?"

Kouichi grabbed the bag of Shadow Knight cards and dumped them onto the floor, spreading them out so he could look at them. "I'm a real idiot, aren't I, Tayuya…." He said quietly, looking at Morgarath. "I really am. How did you ever do it?"

_ "This is a pile of mish-mash, not a deck!"_

"I guess being best in the neighborhood cardshop isn't the same as being strong here at Vanguard Academy." He said. "Would you be struggling like I would be right now? Or would you better than me?"

He looked down at the card, and sighed. "Yeah, I can't…. after all she said... I really am an idiot."

Kouichi suddenly yelled in frustration. He stood up and lay down on his bed, yelling into his pillow and still holding onto Morgarath. "DAMNIT! IDIOT! WHY CAN'T I DO ANYTHING?!"

_"And whatever do you mean by that?"_

Huh? His head shot up as he looked around his room. There was just him. Of course there was just him, it was his room! He was hearing voices? Oh this was just as bad as hallucinating! "I don't really wanna go insane…" He mumbled.

_"Insanity is not particularely a bad thing however."_

Oh no, there it was again. Kouichi smacked his head into his pillow. "I'm not exactly enjoying insanity here! I'm already having a bad enough day!"

_"See, I told you Tayuya would have been better!"_

_ "Yeah well you don't see Tayuya around, do you?! No! You see the kid who followed him around all the time instead, so we have to work with him!"_

"I'm right here you know!" Kouichi yelled, then sighed. "I'm arguing with my insanity. Oh man, this really isn't my day…"

_"He thinks we're part of his insanity! See, Tayuya would have been so much better!"_

_ "For the last time we work with what we have! Will you stop it already and just knock him out!"_

_ "Okay okay! Calm down!"_

"Wait, knock me out?!" Kouichi panicked, looking around the room. It was still only him in there. He blinked. He was really not liking this. No, not at a—

_**-linebreak-**_

_ "There! I did it! Are you happy know?!"_

_ "Very! Now be quiet, he's getting up!"_

_ "I don't see any reason to be quiet if we're going to have to explain things to him. You expect me to put on a mime show for him or something? I'm not doing that!"_

_ "Oh for Cray's sake, you know what I mean!"_

_ Kouichi groaned, opening his eyes and sitting up. Light blue sky, rocky ground, and cliffs surrounding the area. This… wasn't the Yellow dorm. In front of him were two units he recognized immediately. One was a man wearing dark armor, with a large sword in one hand and a small dagger at his waist. Morgarath…_

_ "See, you woke him up." The other, a man waving down at him with an arm covered completely in gold jewelry, and wearing loose grey clothes and a mask covering the lower half of his face said. Leo the Bandit. "You know this would have never happened if—"_

_ "Yes yes I've heard the story millions of times Leo. Please don't start again." Morgarath sighed, then looked at Kouichi. "Welcome, Kouichi Kanbara."_

_ Kouichi stared. "To?"_

_ "I'm sorry?"_

_ "You said welcome. Welcome to what?" He said instinctly. It wasn't his fault, he was just really freaked out at the moment._

_ "See, this is why I said Tayuya would be so much better! He would never ask stupid questions like thi—"_

_ "Welcome to Cray, Kouichi." Morgarath said. "I'm pretty sure you already know who we are."_

_ All Kouichi could do was nod._

_ "Oh for Cray's sake both you boys are hopeless." A third person stepped up, one Kouichi didn't recognize. This girl was blond, and wore minimal armor over a black and grey dress, along with combat boots. She looked at Kouichi with her green eyes, studying him. _

_ "W-Who are you?" Kouichi said. She made him uncomfortable._

_ "Strategist of the Twilight Guardians, Cassie." She said. "I would say it's a pleasure to meet you, but, it really isn't."_

_ Kouichi blinked. "Okay…"_

_ Cassie sighed. "Look, there are a whole bunch of complications and issues happening on Cray right now. We need help from an outside source."_

_ "So you need my help?"_

_ "No." She said._

_ Okay, this was sufficiantly awkward._

_ "It's already being handbled by others. What we're here to talk about is the fact that you're being a complete fool."_

_ ". . . huh?"_

_ Morgarath glared at her, who shrugged, as if to say 'what, it's true'. "Look, Kouichi. I know you've gone through much, but you need to grow up. This is the first step in doing so."_

_ "I'll lend you my power for now." Cassie said. "You'll have to learn how to do other things, like balancing, guarding, and blah blah blah. I'll be there, watching you. Your deck is your problem. Don't you dare give up when you're trying to improve it, cause I'll kick your ass if you even try."_

_ "So… this is like some sort of middle life crisis, and this dream is the key to overcoming it?" Kouichi said slowly. That was so far the only answer he had that made any sense at all._

_ "Sure, why not." Cassie said. "Leo, knock him out."_

_ "With pleasure." Leo the Bandit said, smiling wickedly. Wait, this again!? Did that mean—_

_**-linebreak-**_

"Oww!" Kouichi yelled, rubbing his head which smacked against the bedpost. He sat up, looking around his room. Oh, he fell out of his bed. He must have fallen asleep at some point. Weird, he didn't even notice it. But then, who notices when they fall asleep anyways.

There was something in his right hand, and he lifted it to look. Three cards. Morgarath, Leo the Bandit, and…

He stared. "Oh… what the hell…" Strategist of the Twilight Guardians, Cassie. This was…

His clock beeped, and he looked at it. 12. Noon. He blinked.

"OH MAN IT'S NOON!" Kouichi yelled, jumping up and gathering up the cards, dumping them back into the bag. He was just about to dash out the door when he stopped.

"Wait. I could skip…" He said to himself. "I could just drop out…"

_"Your deck is your problem. Don't you dare give up when you're trying to improve it, cause I'll kick your ass if you even try."_

"Why am I taking advice from a dream?" Kouichi mumbled, opened the door, and ran outside, all the way to the main building and to that small classroom with the mispelled sign on it.

_**-linebreak-**_

"You. Are. Late." Heiwami said when Kouichi entered, out of breath.

"Okay, but, I had a good reason." Kouichi said.

"What?"

"I… oversleep and had my middle life crisis where units were talking to me."

Heiwami made a face. "That's the most stupid excuse I've ever heard. And I've heard a lot of stupid excuses."

"You two should just start class." Stephan said from behind her. "Instead of spending the entire time arguing."

Heiwami stuck out her tongue at him, then looked back at Kouichi. "So, whatdya have?"

"Um, I found this unit." Kouichi put down Cassie on the table. "I guess I could use her with Morgarath whenever he uses his counterblast."

Heiwami looked at the card and sighed. "It's a start." She said. "A start."

He didn't know why, but for some reason it felt like his heart got ten pounds lighter at those words. He breathed out in relief.

"Now 5 laps around the school."

Kouichi froze. "What?"

"It turns out 10 laps is too much, so I'm cutting it down to five. Five laps. Starting now." Heiwami said. "For tomorrow, go down to the main school motion figure system at 2. It's the school fight against SIT's Vanguard Division, with Sammie representing us."

"Sammie…?" Kouichi struggled to remember the name. "Um… who?"

"The seventh best fighter at this school. Sammie, or Samantha Cosgrove." She shrugged. "Be there. It'll be a nice learning experience for you."

"Oh, okay…"

"Now RUN!" Kouichi dashed out the door, slamming it behind him as he took off running. He was an idiot. He really was an idiot.

But, maybe he was enjoying this a little.

_**-linebreak-**_

_Dear Tayuya,_

_ Oh man oh man oh man, what the hell have I gotten myself into. Sorry I didn't write for a while. See, I was a bit busy being hospitalized. Yeah, I got myself into the hospital. I challenged the Malfuction Girl, Heiwami, to a cardfight. Please don't ask why, it was really chaotic. But I lost. And I somehow got really burned in the process, so I was out for a while._

_ It was the fire. The fire kept on reminding me of that day, the day when I was so powerless and unable to do anything while you were trying to protect me. Sorry, I'm still as weak as ever. But I'm improving._

_ Yeah, I signed up for this class, Advanced Vanguard Training. The instructor is insane. The activities are insane. I have no idea why I'm not quitting, but I just wanna stay in it. It's probably due to me having my middle life crisis in a dream. I'm so silly, taking advice from a dream. But I'm doing it anyways._

_ Tomorrow I'm going to watch this person Samantha cardfight someone from another school. Apparently she's the seventh best in our school, so she should be good. Hope she wins!_

_ That's all for today. As always, from your friend,_

_ Kouichi._

_**-linebreak-**_

"So, we're all here?" Kimnara asked.

"Yeah." Said a boy his age, with a burn mark on his face and a hospital gown. He had spiky brown hair and gold eyes. "Can we please hurry this? I only have an hour before I need to get hooked back up to the machines."

"I don't see how you deal with all those annoying hospital machines anyways Keji. They're so annoying!" said a girl's voice. Across from Kimnara sat a person covered completely in a huge black cloak with the letters NR embroided in a fancy, circus like font on the back. "But I agree. Hurry this up Kimnara you're wasting my valuable time which I could be using to get money."

"Oh do calm down Night." Samantha said from her seat around the round table. The four of them sat in a dark room, with one door and wrecked walls. "And please try to have _some_ self control over yourself."

"Stuff a sock in your mouth Sammie." Night replied. Samantha glared at her.

"Kimnara please start." Keji said. "Before something breaks."

"This is about Operation Cray." Kimnara said. "I've already talked to Sammie about it, but for you two, I'll explain now."

"Hey hey! Why'd you tell her before us!" Night yelled.

"Because I was awake and ready to work while you were asleep and Keji was on his medication." Samantha answered. Night twitched, but didn't say anything.

"Travis Masterson wants us to find the best fighter for each clan in this school. Why? I don't know. But it's an order from the boss so we do it." Kimnara said.

Night groaned. "But that's so annoying!"

"You have access to all of the students' files, Sammie has her powers, and Kimnara's the Fourth Best in the school, so he can practically order students around." Keji said. "This should be fairly easy."

"But for tomorrow, let's see how the _fourth_ _best_ in Team Pluto does against some kid from SIT!" Night said, making Samantha twitch.

"Nightmare Ringmaster do you want to know how you'll die, cause I can forsee that it won't be pleasant if it's by my hands!" She yelled.

"Ooooo, someone's getting twitchy! Let's see if you're still like that tomorrow at the match! Then it'll be good!" Night replied.

Samantha scowled. "Idiots everyone of you."

* * *

_**Nan man-kai demo makenai kimochi dorō shite  
Kagayaku mirai e Ride massuguna kimi ga sukida yo! **_

_**Naitemo waratte mo ichido kiri no shinken shōbu honkidesu hora hibana chirase  
Seikai mo riyū mo nakute ī yo yancha-gokoro kattedesu! Tsukande hanasanaikara **_

_**Makezugirai kuyashī toki wa namida shite mata tsuyoku narou  
Tsugi no itte wa (hisshō! )  
Nan demo ari no (jōkyō! )  
Ima kirifuda misete ageru yo **_

_**Nan man-kai demo atsui kimochi dorō shite  
Kimi ga omou mama ni Ride don'na sora mo toberu yo **_

_**Genkai toppa de saigo wa makikaesou So Let' s Fight!  
Matta nashi ne honki dashite motto saikō no Fight o!**_

* * *

**The Black Knight, Morgarath**  
Grade 2/Human – Shadow Knights/Power 9000/Shield 5000  
CONT [V]: This unit loses -2000  
AUTO [V]: [Counterblast 2, retire one rearguard] If this unit's attack is successfully blocked, you may pay the cost. If you do, superior ride one "The King and God of the Dark Ones, the Shadow Knight" from your hand in rest position

**Leo, the Bandit  
**Grade 2/Human – Shadow Knights/Power 8000/Shield 5000  
ACT [V/R]: [Counterblast 2] When this unit's attack hits a Vanguard, you  
may pay the cost. If you do, look at one random card from your opponent's hand.

**Strategist of the Twilight Guardians, Cassie  
**Grade 2/Human – Shadow Knights/Power 9000/Shield 5000  
AUTO [V/R]: When a «Shadow Knight» is flipped facedown, this unit gets Power +3000.  
CONT [V/R]: This unit gets Power -4000

* * *

**Me: Well then, I got nothing really to say other than PAAAAAAAAAAAAAARTAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY! I JUST GRADUATED! And had to wear a really uncomfortable dress too.**

**Astral: And there is no more school for her in the summer.**

**Me: Yeah! Although, that doesn't really mean faster updates. Why? Because I have 3 music lessons to get to. Music analysis, music history 3, and counterpoint. As a result, I got a lot of stuff to study. Which means, I dunno, updates will actually slow down during summer break? Meh, whatevers. Remember to review!**

* * *

_Kouichi: So... this is the seventh best fighter in the school?_

_Emil: She's... scary..._

_Rei: How did this turn into a fortune telling contest?!_

_Kouichi: Oh, you know, some yelling, some girl words, and then some chaos, and it somehow resulted into a catfight cardfight..._

_Emil: I...don't like this... both of them are scary..._

_Rei: Wait... I think I know her!_

_All: Next time "Fortune Fight! A Vision of the Future?!"_

_Heiwami: What... what is this...?_


	9. Fortune Fight! A Vision of the Future!

**Me: I could have finished and uploaded this so much quicker... but I didn't... because I was lazy... I don't own Cardfight Vanguard...**

* * *

**Cardfight! Vanguard: Cray Heroes**

"Heiwami. Remember. We are welcoming our rival school. Be respectful." Principal Brown said. There were around twenty people on the docks, with the Principal, Heiwami, Vayle, Kazumi, Emi, Kouichi, Stephan, and a few others who had come to watch. As well, there were quite a few camera crews around, since many tv stations would be broadcasting the entire fight.

"Yeah yeah. I got it." Heiwami nodded. "Be nice, be respectful, don't diss the school. Yup."

"There it comes!" Somebody yelled, and they looked into the distance, where a ship's form was coming in the distance. Some other began cheering. Eventually, the ship stopped right at the docks, where it was anchored and a pathway was lowered down.

"Welcome to Vanguard Academy." Principal Brown said as the students from SIT began coming down onto shore. "We hope you all have a fun visit here."

"Thanks for having us!" A boy stepped out and said happily, while many girls gazed at him. He had red hair with blond streaks near the front, wearing a large white lab coat over green casual clothing. "This will be a fun trip, if I say so myself!"

He looked out amongst the crowd, and stopped on Emi. "Goddess!" He yelled, running forwards and grabbing her hand, going on one knee and kissing it in front of everyone. Girls squealed, guys stared, Heiwami wondered what was wrong with everyone, and and Emi blinked. "You're just as beautiful as ever!"

"Um, Ali-kun. Is this really necessary?" Emi asked. "Everyone's staring."

"Of course it is!" Ali got back up onto his feet and bowed to her. "Only the best for Kamui's goddess!"

He looked around, this time his eyes landing on Heiwami, and kissed her hand as well. Stephan twitched beside her, and girls screamed. Heiwami blinked. "Um… who are you?"

"You're the mission girl! I've heard from Chris about you!" He put his arm around her. "You know, after this, we could go out and talk a bit over some dinner…"

"Huh?"

"Ali, what are you doing?" Another boy, with black hair and glasses, wearing the large lab coat walked up. "Please don't embarrass our school in less than the one minute we've been here."

"Lee, I'm just having a bit of fun. What's the use of being so handsome and popular if I can't even hang out with some beautiful ladies on this island!" Ali said, gesturing around to all of the girls and earning more screams. "Let's all enjoy this rivalry school cardfight!"

* * *

_**Vanguard Fight!**__**  
Taiyō no Beam karadajū ni abite  
Stand Up saa Soul Chārge shite hashire  
Vanguard Fight, Ready Go! !  
Ready Go! ! **_

_**Atarashī Generation!  
Makiokose! Revolution!  
Mirai e Navigation!  
Asu o kiri hiraite Break suru **_

_**Ike yo! Perfect janakute mo ī sa  
(Drive Check Vanguard!)  
Tobeyo! Seishun no sora e **_

_**Vanguard Fight!  
Taiyō no Beam karadajū ni abite  
Stand Up saa Soul Chārge shite hashire  
Aiyaiyaiyaiyaiyaiya!**_

_**Vanguard Fight!  
Ride on the wave! Nani mo osorenaide**_

* * *

"Now let's get this show underway!" Ali cheered, attracting many others to join in.

As soon as the cheering stopped, Heiwami said "You guys are going to lose." All of the students froze.

"What are you doing…" Stephan hissed.

"No offense or anything, it's just that you're going to lose and get beaten badly." Heiwami continued.

"Those are quite the big words, coming from someone so small." Said a girl with pink hair, braided down one side from SIT, walking forwards. She looked down at Heiwami. "Are you sure you should be saying things like that little girl? You're only a Red, after all."

"You're not exactly a giant either." Heiwami said back, completely clueless to the situation. "And why would you call me little? We're, like, the same height. Besides, what are you then? A White? You're not American though."

"Don't sass me girl." The pink-haired girl said angrily. "I'll have you know I'm the fifth strongest at SIT, and I'll beat you and your pathetic school easily."

Heiwami's eyes flashed. "What did you call it? Say it again. I dare you to say it again…" She said quietly.

"I said your pathetic school will lose. I can already foresee it."

Heiwami began to speak before closing her mouth. Then she began laughing. "What are you, a fortune teller?"

"Actually, yes I am." The girl boasted. "Megumi Taisen, SIT's fortune teller. I can see the future, and yours will not be pretty."

Heiwami snickered. "You're not a fortune teller. It's not possible for you to see into the future."

"Oh? And why is that?"

"Because I'm the only one outside of Britain left who can." Samantha said, glaring at Megumi as she stepped up, arms crossed.

* * *

**Ride 9: Fortune Fight! A Vision of the Future?!**

"And who the hell are you?" Megumi glared back.

"Samantha Cosgrove. Your opponent and the person who's going to slaughter you, chop you up into little pieces and make stew out of your internal organs with cutlery made from your ears and skin." Samantha growled. "You fake, you."

"Are you accusing me of being a fake?!"

"Hmm, let's see!" She yelled. "Yeah, yeah I am!"

"OOOOOKAY! BOTH OF YOU!" Vayle yelled, stepping between the two girls. "CALM! CALM DOWN!" The two of them glared at him, but he didn't back down, glaring back. "Don't let this get out of hand! Let's continue with the fighting up at the school in the arena, through a cardfight!"

"How about some fun to find out who the real fortune teller is?" Heiwami called out to the two of them. "Both of you try and predict your opponent's next move! The person who's the most right in the end is the real fortune teller is!"

"Of course!" Samantha said. "And that'll be me!"

"Don't bet on it!" Megumi yelled back.

Kouichi resisted the urge to slam his head against something. This was getting ridiculously out of hand. Two potentially crazy girls, whose situation was just made worse by Heiwami when he thought Vayle was solving it. Oh man…

_**-linebreak-**_

"Onii-san! The fight's about to start!" A boy 17 of age called, sitting on the sofa and watching the tv. His black hair was just as spiky as ever, and wore a black vest over a red shirt, with jeans. Around the tv were many sofas and chairs. A lavender haired woman sat in one of the seats, with a blonde man next to her. Kai and Ren sat on another sofa, with Asaka and Tetsu sitting next to them.

"Coming Kamui." Aichi said, walking out from the room and sitting down next to the boy. "Who's fighting?"

"Two girls, one called Megumi Taisen, the other Samantha Cosgrove." Misaki said.

"Are they any good?"

"We'll just have to wait and see then!" Miwa said.

As the camera moved amongst the crowd of students watching the match, Kamui froze when the camera stopped on Ali, sitting in the middle of a crowd of girls and talking to all of them, while Emi was sitting next to him. "Why you… Ali… if you anything to my Goddess…"

Aichi laughed nervously.

_**-linebreak-**_

"Hey Kouichi." Rean said, him and Emil sitting next to the Yellow. Kouichi looked at them.

"Oh, hi." He said.

"This is gonna be a fun fight!" Rean said happily.

"The two girls are… scary though…" Emil said quietly.

Kouichi watched the two girls get ready. Was this supposed to be a special match? All Heiwami had said was that it was a good learning experience. Not very helpful. That probably meant he would have to wait and see.

"The fight between Samantha Cosgrove of Vanguard Academy and Megumi Taisen of the SIT Vanguard Division begins!" The announcer yelled.

"Stand up, Vanguard!" They both yelled, the motion figure system activating around them as their spirits were transferred to the battlefield of Cray, a bright patch of land surrounded by mountains.

"Aiming for the Stars, Artemis!" Megumi said.

"Battle Maiden, Akaruhime!" Samantha said.

_ On one side of the battlefield, a flash of green light died down to form a girl with blond hair in pigtails, tied with red flower petals. She had on a sleeveless pink dress with a white robe overtop, and a velvet red ribbon tied behind her. Slung over her shoulder was an arrow holder, with fingerless gloves the same color as her ribbon. She held out a wooden bow with a ribbon tied at the bottom, rose petals blowing around her. _** [Aiming for the Stars, Artemis – 4000]**

_ On the other side was a purple light flash, with a girl with long, light brown hair appearing. She had on a purple dress with one sleeve, with a red ribbon tied around the middle into a bow at the back. A small, gattling gun was in one hand, with a missile launcher slung over the other shoulder. White sandals were on her feet, and sunlight shone around her._** [Battle Maiden, Akaruhime – 5000]**

"They're both Genesis…" Kouichi said. "So it comes down to who uses it better."

"Well, with that deck, it'll be easy to predict what cards you'll be using." Samantha said.

"I don't need a ride chain to see what you'll be using." Megumi counted as she drew her card. Samantha closed her eyes and took a breath, then opened them again calmly.

"You'll be riding the grade 1 Artemis now, along with adding the grade 2 Artemis to your hand now." She said.

"Well duh much. Anyone can tell that." Megumi said. "I ride Bowstring of Heaven and Earth, Artemis!"

_ The first Artemis glowed and formed into a girl with purple hair in a ponytail, tied up with a golden headpiece appeared. She wore a light purple dress, with armored plates over the shoulders, gold cuffs on her wrists, and a ruby necklace. She had a large purple ribbon wrapped around her middle, and held out a fancy, glowing white-and-yellow bow which she held lovingly. _**[Bowstring of Heaven and Earth, Artemis – 7000]**

"She gains a 1000 since Artemis Un's in the soul, and I check the top seven cards of my deck." Megumi said, fanning out seven cards. "I add Twilight Hunter, Artemis to my hand, then end my turn."

"Draw." Samantha said. "Battle Maiden, Mihitatsuhime enters the field!"

_A girl dressed in violet robes with white trim appeared in a flash of light, replacing where Akaruhime had been just before. She had short pink hair in pigtails, with purple streaked in the front. Two small, but powerful guns were in her hands as she held them casually. _**[Battle Maiden, Mihitatsuhime – 7000]**

"Akaruhime's skill. I drop a Genesis to add a grade 3 one to my hand." She continued. "I add Goddess of Flames, Takaokamihime to my hand."

"Now, Mihitatsuhime aims at Artemis! Akaruhime's skill activates from the soul, letting me soulcharge a card!" **[8000]**

**[Soul Charge – Cyber Tiger – Critical Trigger]**

"Not guarding! Now let me make a prediction!" Megumi said, smirking. "I'll be taking one damage this turn."

"Wrong." Samantha said, revealing the top card of her deck. "You'll be taking two damage!"

**[Drive Check – Battle Maiden, Kukurihime – Critical Trigger]**

"What?!"

_ The battle maiden lifted her two guns, then fired five shots at the woman across from her, who yelled as it hit her._

Two cards slid neatly into Megumi's damage zone.

**[Damage Check –Battle Maiden, Mihikarihime – No Trigger]**

**[Damage Check – Broom Witch, Callaway – No Trigger]**

"I end my turn." Samantha said triumphantly.

**Samantha – Megumi**

**6 – Hand – 6**

**2 – Soul – 1**

**0 – Damage – 2**

**0 – Counterblasted – 0**

**Field:**

**none – none - - - none – none**

**none – Battle Maiden, Mihitatsuhime - - - Bowstring of Heaven and Earth, Artemis – none**

**none – none - - - none – none**

"I stand and draw!" Megumi said. "I ride Twilight Hunter, Artemis!"

_A girl with red-orange hair in pigtails at her front appeared. She had white cloth spread behind her, and two white armoured plates on her head like horns, along with two armoured gloves on her hands and matching shoes. She wore a dress that was green at the top, with a gold bodice and white skirt. A large, white stylized bow the size of her was held in her hand. _**[Twilight Hunter, Artemis – 9000]**

"Since Artemis Trois's in the soul, she gains 1000 power. Now calling Witch of Owls, Paprika along with Snipe Snake and Battle Maiden, Izunahime!"

_A woman dressed in white with green hair and an owl perched on her shoulder appeared to the side of the hunter, along with a metal plated snake and a blonde woman with two huge gattling guns by her side. _**[Witch of Owls, Paprika – 8000] [Snipe Snake – 6000] [Battle Maiden, Izunahime – 10000]**

"Izunahime attacks Mihitatsuhime!"

**[Damage Check – Existence Angel – No Trigger]**

"Snipe Snake boosts, and Twilight Hunter Artemis attacks Mihitatsuhime!" **[10000 + 6000 = 16000]**

"These names are gonna tie my tongue in knots…" Kouichi muttered.

"Not guarding." Samantha announced.

"Drive check."

**[Drive Check – Bandit Danny – Draw Trigger]**

"Draw Trigger!" Megumi said. "Power to Paprika and I draw. Now Artemis's skill. I soulcharge 4 cards!"

**[Soul Charge – Snipe Snake – No Trigger]**

**[Soul Charge – Bandit Danny – Draw Trigger]**

**[Soul Charge – Witch of Cats, Cumin – No Trigger]**

**[Soul Charge – Battle Maiden, Kukurihime – Critical Trigger]**

"Damage check."

**[Damage Check – Birds of Paradise – Heal Trigger]**

"Paprika attacks!" **[8000 + 5000 = 13000]**

"One more Mihitatsuhime guards!"

**Samantha – Megumi**

**5 – Hand – 5**

**2 – Soul – 6**

**2 – Damage – 2**

**0 – Counterblasted – 0**

**Field:**

**none – none - - - Battle Maiden, Izunahime – none**

**none – Battle Maiden, Mihitatsuhime - - - Twilight Hunter, Artemis – Snipe Snake**

**none – none - - - Witch of Owls, Paprika – none**

"Draw." Samantha said. "Enter the field, Battle Maiden Konarihime!"

_A maiden dressed in loose, casual robes in white and green appeared, holding a spear with a curved blade at the end. She had brown hair in braids down sides, and smiled. _**[Battle Maiden, Konarihime – 8000]**

"I call one more Konarihime, along with Protector of the Shrine, Sukuna and Existence Angel." She said. _One more Konarihime appeared, along with a woman in large white robes and a green-haired and winged angel in light green clothing. _**[Protector of the Shrine, Sukuna – 8000] [Existence Angel – 7000]**

"What's the point! Hardly any of them have power to hit!"

"Whatever makes you think that's what I'm going for?" Samantha said slyly. "With Existence Angel's support, Sukuna attacks Artemis!" **[8000 + 7000 = 15000]**

"No guard!" Megumi called, snickering inside.

**[Damage Check – Witch of Wolves, Saffron – No Trigger]**

"Existence Angel's skill! I soul charge."

**[Soul Charge – Oracle Queen, Himiko – No Trigger]**

"Battle Maiden Konarihime attacks your vanguard." **[8000]**

"No guard! It can't hit!"

"Akaruhime and Mihitatsuhime's skills from the soul. I soul charge two cards."

**[Soul Charge – Battle Maiden, Mihitatsuhime – No Trigger]**

**[Soul Charge – Cyber Tiger – Critical Trigger]**

**[Drive Check – Cyber Tiger – Critical Trigger]**

"Well look at that!" Samantha held out the card. "A critical trigger. "How bout I give all effects to my vanguard."

_The maiden swung her spear, slashing at the side of Artemis._

**[Damage Check – Bandit Danny – Draw Trigger]**

**[Damage Check – Battle Maiden, Izunahime – No Trigger]**

"Draw Trigger! All effects to Artemis!"

"Konarihime's effect now activates!" Samantha yelled. "I check the top 5 cards of my deck, and if there's a Noble Genesis Grade 3 amongst them, I add it to my hand! I add Goddess of Rivers, Kuraokamihime to my hand, and the rest go to the bottom of my deck! Konarihime, attack Artemis!" **[8000]**

Megumi scowled. "No guard!"

_The second Konarihime swung with her spear, it hitting Artemis's bow as she threw the maiden back away from her._

"Konarihime's skill. I check the top five cards of my deck." She smirked. "I add Goddess of Pathways, Kuramitsuhahime to my hand. I end my turn!"

**Samantha – Megumi**

**5 – Hand – 6**

**6 – Soul – 6**

**2 – Damage – 5**

**0 – Counterblasted – 0**

**Field:**

**none – Battle Maiden, Konarihime - - - Battle Maiden, Izunahime – none**

**none – Battle Maiden, Konarihime - - - Twilight Hunter, Artemis – Snipe Snake**

**Existence Angel – Protector of the Shrine, Sukuna - - - Witch of Owls, Paprika – none**

"Yes! She's winning!" Rean yelled.

"SIT's at five damage, while Samantha was able to fill up her hand quickly." Emil said. "But it's full of mostly grade 3's, and she can't guard with it…"

Kouichi watched the match with steady eyes. Something didn't seem right. What was the point of all those grade 3? Samantha didn't seem right, not with her strategy and her confidence and, what, her ability to see the future?

"Stand and draw!" Megumi yelled, looking at her hand. It was okay. It was okay. She had a large hand, she could guard with later. But for now, she needed to crush that annoying expression off of her opponent's face. She began to raise a card into the air.

"Before you ride, let's predict something here." Samantha said, smiling with contempt.

"Go ahead." Megumi snapped.

"You'll be riding Iwanagahime now."

Megumi froze.

"You've thrown off people in the past by riding a card that seems unlikely for that chain, but you can't fool me."

She took a deep breath. Okay, even if that bitch knew, that didn't mean anything! "Well, since you guessed it, I'll go through with it! Eternal hope and eternal victory, that is who we are! I ride Eternal Goddess, Iwanagahime!"

_The archer glowed in green light as she transformed into a woman with black hair, tied into infinity signs and streaked with blue. Her form rippled as her white dress with a red skirt. On top of the red skirt was white banners with blue designs on it. A necklace of large blue beads was around her neck as she glared across the field. _**[Eternal Goddess, Iwanagahime – 11000]**

Megumi looked at Samantha's calm expression, that annoying distracting oh-so-infuriating expression, and she decided, what the hell. "Iwanagahime's soulblast! She gains 5000 power! Izunahime! Attack the rearguard Konarihime!" **[10000]**

_The maiden aimed with her gun, then shot, hitting the opposing woman with a loud bang, and she dissipated apart. _

"Iwanagahime! Attack Konarihime with Snipe Snake's boost! And Snipe Snake's counterblast!" She screamed. "3000 more power!" **[11000 + 5000 + 6000 + 3000 = 25000]**

"No guard." Samantha said calmly.

_The goddess held out her hand, and blasts of light shot across the field, slamming into the battle maiden at alarming speed. She cried out in pain as it pierced her clothing and skin._

"Drive check!"

**[Drive Check – Battle Maiden Tatsutahime – No Trigger]**

**[Drive Check – Battle Maiden Kukurihime – Critical Trigger]**

"Critical trigger!" She yelled. "Critical to Iwanagahime and power to Paprika!"

**[Damage Check – Battle Maiden, Silatohime – No Trigger]**

**[Damage Check – Oracle Queen Himiko – No Trigger]**

"Paprika attacks Konarihime!" **[8000 + 3000 + 5000 = 16000]**

"Sukuna intercepts." She said. "I counterblast 1 so that she gains 5000 shield."

_The shrine protector jumped forwards, her robes getting larger. The white cloth blocked the oncoming owl from coming any further, so it flew back to its owner._

"Plus since she guarded for a Noble Genesis, I soul charge 2 cards."

**[Soul Charge – Battle Maiden, Konarihime – No Trigger]**

**[Soul Charge – Goddess of Pathways, Kuramitsuhahime – No Trigger]**

**Samantha – Megumi**

**5 – Hand – 8**

**8 – Soul – 4**

**4 – Damage – 5**

**1 – Counterblasted – 1**

**Field:**

**none – none - - - Battle Maiden, Izunahime – none**

**none – Battle Maiden, Konarihime - - - Eternal Goddess, Iwanagahime – Snipe Snake**

**Existence Angel – none - - - Witch of Owls, Paprika – none**

"Figures Sammie would be like that." Heiwami said from her spot at the back of the arena, with Stephan next to her.

"Like what?" He asked.

"See her expression? The way she holds her cards, the words she's saying, it's actually all part of her strategy to win." She said. "She's already analyzed what this Megumi person's like from the moment we met her, and has figured out a way to move her like a puppet with her actions, words and movements. As long as she stays calm, her victory's gonna come smoothly and handed right to her."

"That far into it?" Stephan looked at Samantha, who was still smiling. She didn't look the tiniest bit worried. Just showing that expression was strategy?

"Are you done? I'll tell you now, you have one turn left to try and do something against me." Samantha said, drawing her card and still smiling.

"Shut up! You're just some faker!"

"Really? Cause so far, I've been a lot more accurate than you are." She cocked her head, mocking Megumi with every tiny action her body did. "Why don't you try and guess what I'll ride? You can't. Why? Because you're a fake. While I am the real deal, however."

"You're just some witch who got lucky a few times!" Megumi screamed, and Samantha froze.

"What did you call me." She said quietly. Heiwami ducked down, grabbing her ears shut.

"What?!" Stephan asked.

"There are two things you should never call her." Heiwami said softly. "Sammie, if you're not close to her, and witch. On no circumstance should you call her a witch…"

"I called you a—"

"I HEARD WHAT YOU FUCKING CALLED ME!" Samantha screamed, so loudly the motion figure system shook, and students held their ears in fear that their eardrums would burst. "I was going to take a bit of pity on you, but SCREW THAT! I'M TAKING RIGHT PAST EVERY LIMIT TO A WORLD WHERE IT DOESN'T EVEN BEGIN TO EXIST!"

Through the screaming and him covering his ears, Kouichi realized something. This sounded familiar…

"Goddess who controls all choices of this world, shape the future with your judgement! There are no limits to your power, and show that power to those who will now learn and fear it! RIDE!" She screamed. "GODDESS OF PATHWAYS, KURAMITSUHAHIME!"

_From a burst of light appeared a woman dressed in multi-colored robes, with its back seeming to flow on and on. She had long black hair, flying around weightlessly. Many gold and silver bracelets were laced on her arms, while she was barefoot underneath her gown. She raised her hands in the air, and two orbs of light appeared in her hands, one a calming blue, and the other a flaming red. _**[Goddess of Pathways, Kuramitsuhahime – 11000]**

"You should have never called me that. Now look what happens!" She almost laughed at those words, before throwing three cards onto the field. "CALL! Goddess of Rivers, Goddess of Flames, and Shrine Priestess Kagutsuchi!"

_By her side appeared two twin goddesses. One had robes lined with red, with the ends seeming like it was on fire. The other had robes who'se ends were lined with blue, and seemed to flow onwards behind her like an unending river. Behind the three was a woman holding a divine sword covered by a golden sheath, _**[Goddess of Rivers, Kuraokamihime – 10000] [Goddess of Flames, Takaokamihime – 10000] [Shrine Priestess, Kagutsuchi – 7000]**

"Kagutsuchi, call forth the beginning to the new world! Persona Caller!" She yelled. "I search my deck and add one Goddess of Pathways, Kuramitsuhahime to my hand."

_The woman pulled the sword out from the sheath and held it in the air, chanting ancient words as the blade glowed._

"Persona Caller?!" Kouichi stared. "Then that means…"

"The same skill…" Emil said quietly.

"Goddess of Flames, Takaokamihime, burn away her hand." Samantha said, holding out her hand. "Judgement of flames…"

Three cards flew from her soul, and one of the cards in Megumi's hand caught on fire. She dropped it in shock, and it landed in her drop zone. "Plus I soul charge 1 card. Takaokamihime gains 2000 power."

**[Soul Charge – Fancy Monkey – Draw Trigger]**

"She's attacking your Paprika!" **[10000 + 2000 = 12000]**

_The goddess of flames held out her hand, and fire raced across the field, striking and burning away the owl commander._

"Kuramitsuhahime! Attack Iwanagahime!" Samantha yelled.

"Kushinada! Perfect guard!"

"There's Akaruhime, Mihitatsuhime, and Konarihime in the soul. With their skills, I soul charge." She said.

**[Soul Charge – Goddess of Self-Sacrifice, Kushinada – No Trigger]**

**[Soul Charge – Birds of Paradise – Heal Trigger]**

**[Soul Charge – Protector of the Shrine, Sukuna – No Trigger]**

**[Drive Check – Battle Maiden, Mihitatsuhime – No Trigger]**

**[Drive Check – Battle Maiden, Kukurihime – Critical Trigger]**

"Oh look, a critical." She laughed. "All effects to Kuraokamihime! She attacks your vanguard with Existence Angel's support. Soulcharge." **[10000 + 7000 + 5000 = 22000]**

**[Soul Charge – Battle Maiden, Silatohime – No Trigger]**

"Kukurihime and Bandit Danny guard!"

Samantha frowned. "I end my turn. You'll regret it."

**Samantha – Megumi**

**5 – Hand – 3**

**11 – Soul – 4**

**4 – Damage – 5**

**2 – Counterblasted – 1**

**Field:**

**none – Goddess of Flames, Takaokamihime - - - Battle Maiden, Izunahime – none**

**none – Goddess of Pathways, Kuramitsuhahime - - - Eternal Goddess, Iwanagahime – Snipe Snake**

**Existence Angel – Goddess of Rivers, Kuraokamihime - - - none – none**

"Stand and draw!" Megumi yelled. "You're going to pay!"

"Let's see you try!"

"Iwanagahime!" She began, then looked at her vanguard and froze. Samantha smiled wickedly.

"Oh no! Look at that! You don't have enough soul for her limit break!"

"Shut up!" Megumi screamed. "I call Witch of Wolves Saffron, Battle Maiden Tatsutahime, and one more Snipe Snake!"

_A woman in short white clothing, and holding a large staff appeared, with another mechanical snake behind her and a priestess dressed in a dark blue. _**[Witch of Wolves, Saffron – 10000] [Battle Maiden, Tatsutahime – 7000] [Snipe Snake – 6000]**

"Iwanagahime's soulblast!" She yelled. "Power +5000! Iwanagahime attacks your vanguard with Snipe Snake's boost! Snipe Snake's counterblast! 3000 more power!" **[11000 + 5000 + 6000 + 3000 = 25000]**

"Cyber Tiger, Battle Maiden Kukurihime, guard!" Samantha said.

"Twin drive check!"

**[Drive Check – Goddess of Self-Sacrifice, Kushinada – No Trigger]**

**[Drive Check – Large Pot Witch, Laurie – Heal Trigger]**

"Heal trigger! I heal one damage and give the power to Izunahime!" Megumi yelled. "Izunahime attacks your vanguard!"

"No guard."

"No guard now?" Kouichi stared. "Why?!"

_The blonde woman aimed with her two enormous gattling guns strapped to her waist, sending out dozens of bullets spiralling towards the goddess, who got hit. She frowned, but didn't cry or scream._

**[Damage Check – Shrine Priestess, Kagutsuchi – No Trigger]**

"Saffron attacks with Snipe Snake's boost!" She continued. "Snipe Snake's skill! Counterblast! And Saffron's skill! 2000 more power!" **[10000 + 6000 + 3000 + 2000 = 21000] **"Finish her!"

"Kuramitsuhahime's skill now activates!" Samantha yelled. "I soul blast 3 cards, and redirect your attack to one of my rearguards!"

"What?!"

_Saffron conjured up a portal with her staff, and a wolf shot out of it. But just as it was flying towards the goddess, she raised the two orbs in her hands into the air, which glowed. Two paths appeared in front of Saffron._

"So, choose. The path of flames or the path of rivers. If you choose flames, you must discard a card from your hand. If you choose rivers, I get to draw a card." She smirked. "Make your choice. Although the outcome of this match is going to be the same no matter which one you choose."

Megumi bit her lip, scowling. This woman… "I choose to attack Goddess of Rivers, Kuraokamihime!" She yelled.

"Thank you. Soul blast!" Samantha smiled. "I draw 1 card, and she gains 2000 power. Although that attack isn't going through. Battle Maiden, Kukurihime guards!"

_As Saffron and her wolf dashed down the pathway to the goddess glowing blue, a small girl with short brown hair and pink, white, purple and red robes appeared in her path, holding a tray of grenades. She tripped, and the grenades all flew at Saffron, exploding and sending her back off of the path._

"Just like I told you." She said. "That was your last chance. And you just lost it."

**Samantha – Megumi**

**3 – Hand – 4**

**5 – Soul – 1**

**4 – Damage – 4**

**2 – Counterblasted – 3**

**Field:**

**none – Goddess of Flames, Takaokamihime - - - Battle Maiden, Izunahime – none**

**none – Goddess of Pathways, Kuramitsuhahime - - - Eternal Goddess, Iwanagahime – Snipe Snake**

**Existence Angel – Goddess of Rivers, Kuraokamihime - - - Witch of Wolves, Saffron – Snipe Snake**

"I don't really need to say it, do I." Samantha said. "But I will anyways. Final Turn!"

"Final Turn?!" Megumi growled. No. No way. No way this could happen to her! There was no way!

Ali examined the field. "It's over."

"Yeah." Emi nodded. "I haven't seen that unit, Kuramitsuhahime, before, but it's obvious that she's hiding its real power."

"Shouldn't you know her deck? After all, you should have watched her cardfight." Ali asked.

"She was using a simple Artemis deck at the time, and dominated with it. Then she gave up as soon as she became seventh." She replied. "None of us knew why. This is her real deck, I can tell. Even though she usually never fights."

"She's going to use it." Kouichi said quietly.

"Call! Battle Maiden, Mihitatsuhime and Shrine Priestess Kagutsuchi. I won't use Kagutsuchi's skill this time." Samantha said.

_The violet robed girl with pink hair in pigtails appeared, with a woman wearing white and holding a large sword next to her. _**[Battle Maiden, Mihitatsuhime – 7000] [Shrine Priestess, Kagutsuchi – 7000]**

"Goddess of Pathways, Kuramitsuhahime attacks your vanguard with Kagutsuchi's support! And with that, I unlock the key to the limitless word!"

"The limitless world?!" Megumi scowled. "It doesn't matter!"

"I think you'll find it does!" Samantha yelled. "First off, the two Konarihime, Mihitatsuhime, and Akaruhime's skills let me soul charge 3 cards!"

**[Soul Charge – Battle Maiden, Konarihime – No Trigger]**

**[Soul Charge – Goddess of Rivers, Kuraokamihime – No Trigger]**

**[Soul Charge – Fancy Monkey – Draw Trigger]**

**[Soul Charge – Battle Maiden, Kukurihime – Critical Trigger]**

"Create the future from the pathways you construct in front of you, and bring the world back to the genesis of creation! Kuramitsuhahime! Personification Break, Soul Edition!" Samantha yelled, throwing down the copy of her from her hand, and taking out six card from her soul. "Divine Judgement!"

_The goddess glowed with power, raising both colored orbs into the sky, the women next to her glowing as well, into a pillar of bright light into the sky._

"I get to draw one card, and I burn away one card in your hand!" She pointed, as one of the cards in Megumi's hand disappeared and reappeared in the drop zone. "And my entire front row gets 5000 more power!"

"What?!"

_**-linebreak-**_

"Personification Break?!" Kamui yelled. "How?!"

"Cards with those skills were created by Takuto himself. How would someone like her have one?!" Misaki exclaimed.

Kai watched the screen and Samantha's triumphant expression. "So it's true. Team Pluto's currently residing at Vanguard Academy." He said coldly.

_**-linebreak-**_

"Destroy her Kuramitsuhahime!" Samantha yelled. **[11000 + 7000 + 5000 = 23000]**

"Kushinada! Perfect guard!" Megumi yelled. "You can't break through that!"

"We'll see. Drive check."

**[Drive Check – Goddess of Self-Sacrifice, Kushinada – No Trigger]**

**[Drive Check – Fancy Monkey – Draw Trigger]**

"Draw trigger! Power to Goddess of Flames!" She said. "Goddess of Flames, Takaokamihime! Attack her vanguard with Mihitatsuhime's support! Takaokamihime's soulblast! I burn away the last card in your hand, along with 2000 power and a soul charge!"** [10000 + 7000 + 5000 + 2000 = 24000] **

The last three cards from her soul flew out as Megumi's last card in her hand caught on fire, dropping into the drop zone.

**[Soul Charge – Goddess of Pathways, Kuramitsuhahime – No Trigger]**

Megumi looked at her field. No cards left in her hand… and just one intercept. No way…

**[Damage Check – Spark Cockerell – Stand Trigger]**

"Goddess of Rivers, Kuraokamihime. Go." ** [10000 + 7000 + 5000 = 22000]**

**[Soul Charge – Battle Maiden, Silatohime – No Trigger]**

**[Damage Check – Eternal Goddess, Iwanagahime – No Trigger]**

**Samantha – Megumi**

**4 – Hand – 0**

**0 – Soul – 1**

**4 – Damage – 6**

**2 – Counterblasted – 3**

**Field:**

**Battle Maiden, Mihitatsuhime – Goddess of Flames, Takaokamihime - - - Battle Maiden, Izunahime – none**

**Shrine Priestess, Kagutsuchi – Goddess of Pathways, Kuramitsuhahime - - - Eternal Goddess, Iwanagahime – Snipe Snake**

**Existence Angel – Goddess of Rivers, Kuraokamihime - - - Witch of Wolves, Saffron – Snipe Snake**

"The winner, Samantha Cosgrove from Vanguard Academy!"

The Vanguard Academy students all began cheering. Megumi stared at her field while Samantha gathered up her cards, waving to the audience before walking out of the arena. "Who's the fake?" She said before disappearing out the door.

"That was overwhelming." Emil said. Rean nodded. "Really close at the end."

Was it? Was it really close? Or had Samantha been an actual fortune teller and be able to see all that, knowing exactly how to win?

Kouichi sighed. Girls were weird.

_**-linebreak-**_

"Figures. She could have done it a lot more smoothly though." Heiwami said. "The ending could have been a lot less choppy if that funny girl from SIT just didn't call her a witch."

"So Vanguard Academy wins this match." Stephan said. "It's good. Our school wins."

"Of course we won! You think we'd lose?" Heiwami scoffed. Boys were stupid.

_**-linebreak-**_

Kouichi walked down the empty hallway on the way to the Advanced Vanguard Training class. It was empty since everyone else had gone back to the dorms to relax after the cardfight since there were no classes today, other than the AVT class, which, of course, Heiwami wouldn't stop for anything. SIT was staying for a few days as well, just to relax before going back to Singapore.

"Ugh! He's late! Gods, where is he?!" He heard someone say, and saw Samantha near the end of the hallway, tapping her foot impatiently with her arms crossed. "Where is he?!" She was waiting for someone? Well, it wasn't his business anyways.

Samantha blinked, and all the sudden her eyes began glowing pure white. Light waves began emitting off of her, and Kouichi stared. W-What was going on?

* * *

_"W-What's this?" Kouichi looked around in shock. He was standing-. His body was see-through, like he was a spirit._

_ "Kimnara! You can't do this!" He heard Heiwami yell. She was standing on the ground, glaring up at someone. Heiwami? What was she doing? He walked towards her, right through her, and nearly tripped. He was a ghost?_

_ "What are you doing in my vision?!" He turned around to see Samantha glaring at him. Like him, she seemed to be a spirit as well. _

_ "I don't know! What is this?!"_

_ Samantha scowled. "I said I was the only one out of Britain left who could see into the future, didn't I? Most of the time it's small things, like what's for breakfast tomorrow or what's the next card I'll drive check. Rare times I get visions like this, where I witness things first hand. This is an event going to happen in the future. Looks like you got caught up in seeing it too." She said. "They've never been wrong."_

_ "I'll do whatever I want! There isn't a thing you can do about it!" The two of them looked up to see Kimnara, standing on the ledge of a high up window, glaring down at them. There were many people standing behind Heiwami. Emil, Rei, Aichi and Kai? Was that himself in the future?_

_ "Come back Kimnara! You still have a chance!" He heard the future himself yell._

_ Kimnara frowned. "I'm different from all of you. I can't." And then he jumped out of the window._

_ "KIMNARA!" The future Kouichi yelled._

_ Then the world dissolved apart around them._

_**-1 year later-**_

_ "Adding a person from another world out to be good! So come on! Let's cardfight!" A person he didn't recognize yelled. He was younger than them, and looked around twelve._

_ "Is this another one?" Kouichi wondered._

_ "Yeah." Samantha said from next to him. "Surprising. I usually don't get more than one at a time…"_

_ "Reverse will never win." Heiwami said. She and the person were chained to a motion figure system, while the future him, Rei, and Emil were in cages behind them. "Just you wait!"_

_ "You say that, but do you really think you can do anything right now? You're not half as powerful as you could be, and you're too afraid to accept the power!" The person yelled. "Once you're Reversed, you'll get the power and understand! Then we'll go back, and you can become the Queen once again!"_

_ Heiwami scowled. "She's not going anywhere!" he heard his future self yell. His hair had grown out, and he was taller too. Why weren't they wearing their school uniforms?_

_ "Yeah! You're not Reversing anyone tonight!" the future Rei yelled._

_ "You've been stopped before, you'll be stopped again!" the future Emil yelled._

_ "Friends of yours." Samantha said, and Kouichi looked at her. She was studying them with cold eyes. "They're fools for standing up to Void."_

_ "Void?" Kouichi wondered as the world dissolved apart._

_**-2 years later-**_

_ "Void has spread over Earth." He heard Takuto say to the entire school. He saw himself in the audience, wearing a Soul Saver Blue jacket and a serious expression. "The Reverse is spreading faster than it ever did before, since cardfights aren't even needed anymore. That's why this island was built. So that when Void came, at least you cardfighters would stay safe. But it won't for long. Even now, the Reverse is slowly making its way to this island. We're evacuating you all to Cray. It's not the safest place right now, but it's the only haven we have left."_

_ "To Cray?" Kouichi muttered. _

_ All of the students began whispering amongst themselves, wondering what was going on._

_ "There isn't time for wondering or small talk! We have to evacuate this world now!" Rekka yelled into the microphone. "You'll get transported thirty at a time by the machine, but just get going now!"_

_ "Hurry up!" Kourin added._

_ "Void's gotten this much of the world already, huh." Samantha said from next to Kouichi as the two watched the scene dissolve around them._

_**-2 ½ years later-**_

_"Where are we this time?" Kouichi looked around. He and Samantha were hovering above what seemed to be a meeting room. There was a large table, with a unit from every clan sitting at a chair. Beside them were, some of his classmates? He recognized some of the people sitting at the table! Emil, Rean, Rei, Heiwami, Stephan, Mana, Leo, Vayle, Kazumi, Meredith, Arthur, Leo's friend Haseo, that bully Bob, and even Samantha. He looked at Samantha, who didn't seem surprised at all, seeing her future self._

_ "We can't always play defense forever. We're going to have to fight them head on!" Heiwami yelled. "Frontal assault on them!"_

_ The future Samantha smacked the table with her hands angrily. "You can't be serious!" She yelled. "You're still sick in the head from the whole Nightmare Ringmaster thing! You're in no shape to be coming up with ridiculous battle strategies!"_

_ "Heiwami! You're still recovering!" Rei grabbed her, trying to get her to sit down. "Even if you weren't still injured, there's no way a frontal assault would work!"_

_ "Frontal assault, then send us off to battle Dark Cray from the inside out." Heiwami said, not backing down. "The spy team takes out the inner leader, while attacking their power source. As soon as that's done, Cray does a full frontal assault."_

_**-2 ¾ years later-**_

_Kouichi stood in the middle of a battlefield littered with corpses of units and people. What had happened here..? Samantha looked at it all with sad eyes, not seeming the tiniest bit surprised. "Sacrifices were necessary." She said quietly. "They're always necessary."_

_ He noticed something that looked familiar, and picked it up. It was a piece of paper from his notebook. He'd recognize the stationary anywhere. It even had his writing on it!_

_ "Dear Tayuya," he read, "the world is ending. It's official. Over half of the units on Cray have been Reversed and Voided, and we can't help them. Void wins. I hate to say this, but Void really got mankind this time. As we went deeper and deeper into the depths of Dark Cray, we couldn't stand up to the final trap Void had left. Something not even Team Pluto had expected to happen during all their years."_

_ Samantha blinked, her face not moving from its cold state. _

_ "Now we're trapped with no contact to Cray, Earth, or each other. Things are really getting bad, aren't they Tayuya… What a cruel world this is, toying with humans. I don't know if the others are even alive anymore. I don't know if I even want to know if they are or not." He could practically hear himself chuckling at the irony of life as he wrote. "You know what's funny? I remember writing all of this perfectly. Just around two to three years ago, Samantha had that vision, and I saw all of this happen. I saw the destruction, the aftermath, and this letter." Kouichi froze. "Oh, how ironic this is. How just a few years ago, this event seemed like something out of a dream. And now it's something straight out of a nightmare." He choked out the last few words. "In the end, Sammie's predictions were all true…"_

_ The world dissolved apart around them._

* * *

Kouichi fell onto his knees, holding both his head and his stomach, which felt like throwing up. "W-What, what…"

"Looks like you have a tough life ahead of you." Samantha said quietly. She walked over to him, and smacked him on the back of his head. Kouichi grabbed his head.

"Ow! What was that for?!" He yelled. It was mostly out of shock rather than pain though. She didn't that into it.

"For calling me Sammie without permission." She answered, although she didn't seem serious. "See ya."

He watched her leave, then gathered himself together and walked down the hallway slowly, on the way to his class.

Around the corner, Heiwami fell to her knees as she held her stomach and mouth. She coughed violently, and failed to swallow the bile rising in her throat as she threw up onto the ground.

"W-Wha…" She coughed, "what was that…"

**_-linebreak-_**

_That was the first time someone else got into one of my visions. What's that supposed to mean... And what I saw too, that isn't what I usually see, that was something on a whole new level..._ Samantha walked down the hallway, poised and composed together. She wasn't about to let some vision get to her, no matter what she saw.

"Hey! Sorry I took so long. Some idiots were busy partying since you won at the front at the dorm and they wouldn't let me through." She looked up to see Kimnara standing in front of her, waving with that usual smirk of his. He frowned. "What's up with you?"

Samantha realized she had been staring at him wide-eyed, and mentally slapped herself. "Nothing. It's nothing." She said, walking to him and taking his hand as the two of them walked down the hallway. She could worry about the visions later. For now, "Let's get lunch already."

* * *

_**Nan man-kai demo makenai kimochi dorō shite  
Kagayaku mirai e Ride massuguna kimi ga sukida yo! **_

_**Naitemo waratte mo ichido kiri no shinken shōbu honkidesu hora hibana chirase  
Seikai mo riyū mo nakute ī yo yancha-gokoro kattedesu! Tsukande hanasanaikara **_

_**Makezugirai kuyashī toki wa namida shite mata tsuyoku narou  
Tsugi no itte wa (hisshō! )  
Nan demo ari no (jōkyō! )  
Ima kirifuda misete ageru yo **_

_**Nan man-kai demo atsui kimochi dorō shite  
Kimi ga omou mama ni Ride don'na sora mo toberu yo **_

_**Genkai toppa de saigo wa makikaesou So Let' s Fight!  
Matta nashi ne honki dashite motto saikō no Fight o!**_

* * *

**Me: I have procrastinated… so much on this… I could have finished this a week ago but I was too lazy… man… sorry… I'm too lazy to think of anything else to say right now… review...**

* * *

**Battle Maiden, Akaruhime  
**Grade 0/Noble – Genesis/5000 Power/10000 Shield  
AUTO: [Choose 1 «Genesis» from your hand, and discard it] When a «Genesis» rides this Unit, you may pay the cost. If you do, search your deck for 1 Grade 3 Noble «Genesis», reveal it to your opponent, add it to your hand, and shuffle your deck.  
CONT [Soul]: If you have a «Genesis» Vanguard, that unit gets the skill; "AUTO [V]: When this unit attacks a Vanguard, you may Soul Charge (1)"  
_"I'll handle things up front."_

**Birds of Paradise  
**Grade 0/Hi-Beast – Genesis/3000 Power/10000 Shield  
(_You may only have up to four cards with "HEAL" in a deck._)  
AUTO: When another «Genesis» rides this unit, you may call this card to (RC).  
AUTO [R]:When this unit boosts, the boosted unit gets [Power]+3000 until end of that battle, and at the beginning of the end phase of that turn, return this unit to your deck, and shuffle your deck.  
_"The brilliantly colored birds fly high above the sky."_

**Battle Maiden, Mihitatsuhime  
**Grade 1/Noble – Genesis/7000 Power/5000 Shield  
AUTO [R]: [Counter Blast (1)] When this unit boosts an attack that hits a vanguard, you may pay the cost. If you do, choose up to three «Genesis» in your drop zone, and put them at the bottom of your deck.  
CONT [Soul]: If you have a «Genesis» Vanguard, that unit gets the skill; "AUTO [V]: When this unit attacks a Vanguard, you may Soul Charge (1)"  
_"The attack starts now! Support for all areas!"_

**Shrine Priestess, Kagutsuchi  
**Grade 1/Noble – Genesis/7000 Power/5000 Shield  
CONT: **Persona Caller **_(You may only have up to four cards with "CONT: Persona Caller" in a deck.)_  
AUTO: [Counter Blast (1)] When this unit is placed on (VC) or (RC), if you have a «Genesis» vanguard, you may search your deck for one unit with "Goddess of Pathways, Kuramitsuhahime" in its name, reveal it to your opponent, and put it in your hand.  
_"Let's call upon the goddess who decides the paths of fate."_

**Battle Maiden, Konarihime  
**Grade 2/Noble – Genesis/8000 Power/5000 Shield  
AUTO [V/R]: When this unit's attack hits a vanguard, if you have a «Genesis» vanguard, look at up to five cards from the top of your deck, search for up to one Grade 3 "Noble" «Genesis» from among them, reveal it to your opponent, put it into your hand, and put the rest the bottom of your deck in any order.  
CONT [Soul]: If you have a «Genesis» Vanguard, that unit gets the skill; "AUTO [V]: When this unit attacks a Vanguard, you may Soul Charge (1)"  
_"Find it! The key to victory is close!"_

**Protector of the Shrine, Sukuna  
**Grade 2/Noble – Genesis/8000 Power/5000 Shield  
AUTO: [Counter Blast (1) - «Genesis»] When this unit is placed on (GC), if you have a «Genesis» "Noble" vanguard, you may pay the cost. If you do, this unit gets Shield +5000, and then Soul Charge (2).  
_"Don't you dare come near the shrines while I'm here."_

**Battle Maiden, Silatohime  
**Grade 2/Noble – Genesis/8000 Power/5000 Shield  
AUTO: When this unit is put into the drop zone from the Guardian Circle, if you have a «Genesis» Vanguard, you may Soul Charge (2).  
_"Genesis is the beginning, Cray's beginning."_

**Goddess of Rivers, Kuraokamihime****  
**Grade 3/Noble – Genesis/10000 Power  
AUTO (V/R): [Soul Blast (3)] When this unit attacks or is targeted for an attack, you may pay the cost. If you do, you may draw 1, and this unit gets [Power]+2000 until the end of the turn.  
AUTO (V/R): When this unit attacks a Vanguard, you may Soul Charge (1).  
CONT (V/R): **Lord** _(If you have a unit that doesn't belong to the same clan as this unit, this unit cannot attack)  
"The water washes away all sins to the beginning. That was your choice."_

**Goddess of Flames, Takaokamihime****  
**Grade 3/Noble – Genesis/10000 Power  
AUTO (V/R): [Soul Blast (3)] When this unit attacks or is targeted for an attack, you may pay the cost. If you do, your opponent chooses one card in their hand. That card goes to the drop zone, and this unit gets [Power]+2000 until the end of the turn.  
AUTO (V/R): When this unit attacks a Vanguard, you may Soul Charge (1).  
CONT (V/R): **Lord** _(If you have a unit that doesn't belong to the same clan as this unit, this unit cannot attack)  
"The flames burn away to the end of the world. That was your choice."_

**Goddess of Pathways, Kuramitsuhahime  
**Grade 3/Noble – Genesis/11000 Power  
AUTO (V): **Personification Break Soul 4** _(This ability is active if you have four or more damage)_ _(This ability is active if you have one copy of this card in your soul and your hand):_ [Soul Blast (6)] When this unit attacks a Vanguard, if you have a unit named "Goddess of Flames, Takaokamihime" and a unit named "Goddess of Rivers, Kuraokamihime" in your front row, you may pay the cost. If you do, draw 1 card, and choose one card from your opponent's hand. That card goes to the drop zone. All units in your front row get Power +5000.  
AUTO (V): [Soul Blast (3)] Once per turn, when a rearguard unit targets this unit for an attack, if you have a card called "Goddess of Flames, Takaokamihime" and a card called "Goddess of Rivers, "Kuraokamihime" in your front row, you may pay the cost. If you do, your opponent chooses one of those units, and that unit is now the one being attacked.  
CONT (V/R): **Lord** _(If you have a unit that doesn't belong to the same clan as this unit, this unit cannot attack)  
"Choose wisely. One choice can decide the world's beginning and end."_

* * *

_Kouichi: My head hurts… after that…_

_Stephan: You okay? Both you and Heiwami have been acting weird._

_Kouichi: F-Fine…._

_Leo: Oi! One of you! Mana got into something messed up! Help!_

_Emil: What? What happened?_

_Leo: An accident with the second best, Vayle, and a now… angry third best Kazumi…_

_Rei: I think I know what's happening…_

_All: Next time: "Misunderstandings and Cardfights."_

_Heiwami: What is wrong with these girls?! Seriously!_

_Stephan: You're not the best example to be saying that…_


End file.
